AN antique dealer who received valuable loot from three Cotswolds house burglaries and tried to sell some of it on eBay, has walked free from court.

Ricky Else, 44, of Woodmancote Vale, Woodmancote, nr Cheltenham, received a six months jail term suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and to pay costs of £750, at Gloucester Crown Court today.

At the end of his two day trial earlier this month Else was convicted by a jury of handling stolen goods from burglaries in South Cerney, Gotherington, and Mickleton between December 2014 and May last year.

He claimed he had bought the loot, including silverware and an Omega watch, at car boot sales and flea markets and had no idea they were stolen goods.

The court heard that he still maintains his denial of the offences.

Defence solicitor Stephen Ritter said Else has suffered a 'tremendous loss' with the death of his father. His wife is in poor health and that is another worry for him.

"In this case he took a gamble which went horribly wrong," Mr Ritter said. "He should have known better. He should have thought about it twice and then twice again.

"His card has been well and truly marked and he is very chastened."

Recorder Marcus Tregaskis-Davey told Else: "You purport to be a dealer in antiques. Items from three dwelling burglaries were found at your home. They were located because the true owners discovered that they were being sold by you on eBay.

"It is of note that items from two of the burglaries were in your possession very shortly after the burglaries themselves. In respect of one of those burglaries they were in your possession less than 24 hours later.

"You have allowed yourself to be known as someone who would be an outlet for items stolen from burglaries."

The Recorder said that in deciding sentence he had borne in mind the mental health difficulties of Else's wife and his need to support her financially.

The jury heard that Else tried to sell items from two of the burglaries on his eBay account, 'Watchmagic.'

But the owner of a £2,800 Omega watch, Stuart Mullock from South Cerney, who also had his new Audi car stolen, went on eBay to see if he could see his watch being advertised and spotted it.

He reported it to police, who went to Else's home and found the watch there. He claimed he had bought it for £500 from someone at the Hempsted car boot sale in Gloucester.

At that stage police took no further action but three months later silverware from a burglary of Eunice Walker's home in Mickleton, was also advertised on Else's eBay account within hours of the raid.

Officers went to Else's home and found some of Mrs Walker's property - as well as some silverware which turned out to have been stolen in a third burglary, this time from the home of Kenneth Smith in Gotherington, nr Cheltenham.