A man who had more than £20,000 of stolen steam engines in his home was found not guilty of dishonestly handling stolen goods.

Gary Treeby, of Broadview Farm in Lidsing, had five high-end replicas seized from his home while another was found during a search of his sister’s property in Chatham.

The items had been taken from Maxitrak, a bespoke model train and road vehicle manufacturer and retailer based in Staplehurst, over eight years.

During a trial at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday the 45-year-old denied any knowledge of his sister having the model.

He did however accept the items at his home were stolen- although he said he had no knowledge of this prior to the criminal investigation.

Treeby told the court two models had been inherited from his brother Jack, who was murdered in Tovil on December 27 2009, after a family feud spiralled out of control.

The court heard another three engines were bought from his wife’s cousin for a ‘bargain’ price.

Two of the trains cost £1,000 while another was picked up for £1,500 - despite the market value being at least four times that.

While being questioned by his defence solicitor, Alan Balneaves, he said: “I knew nothing at all about them being stolen.

“If I thought they were I wouldn’t want them in my house. I wouldn’t want them around me.”

Prosecutor Matthew Bolt asked why his concerns were not raised by the cheap price.

He said that the trains were not 100% complete and that he trusted the person he was buying from.

Suspicions about Treeby were raised when he visited the Maxitrak store, in Lodge Road, and asked for some spare parts and for shop staff to help find a serial number for one of the replicas.

The shop assistant knew the train he was talking about had been stolen and added the customer seemed to know ‘absolutely nothing’ about model trains.

Treeby said he simply went into the store to get some spare parts and to get some information needed to insure the product.

Chairman of the bench Paul Harvey said: “It is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove the issue beyond reasonable doubt.

“We found no evidence the defendant knew these items were stolen.”

Alex Probyn, from Maxitrak, confirmed the trains exhibited in the court had been stolen from his business and there was no way they could have been made anywhere else.