A MINI worker selling stolen parts from the factory on eBay was caught by an investigator scouring the web.

Safouane Selatnia was found by police with 26 amplifiers and 10 air-conditioning pumps worth £24,876.

The 39-year-old was given a suspended jail sentence at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after earlier admitting two counts of handling stolen goods.

Recorder Richard Hamlin told the father-of-two: “This was a commercial enterprise in which you played a very important part.”

Selatnia, from Spring Lane, Littlemore, began working at the plant through an agency in 2002 and became a BMW employee in April 2004. He was arrested at work on December 2, 2010.

Deirdre Philpott, prosecuting, said: “The matter came to light as a result of an inquiry by an investigator employed by a company that does trademark protection.

“It appears that company is retained by BMW to watch the Internet for possible trademark infringements. A large number of alleged authentic BMW spares were being sold on eBay from a particular email address.”

The investigator made test purchases of two items from Selatnia and traced the parts to the Cowley factory via their serial numbers.

The former Algerian Air Force helicopter pilot’s eBay account revealed he had listed items worth £30,000 in the 90 days before he was caught.

The court heard he had sold parts worth a total of £3,000.

Lucy Ffrench, defending, said her client paid £18,000 for two consignments of stolen parts at a third of their retail value in August 2010.

She said he had failed to recoup the investment by the time he was caught.

Selatnia had often held down more than one job at a time to support his disabled wife, Mrs Ffrench said.

Over the last six years, he had deposited £11,000 from PayPal, £40,000 in cash and £40,000 from another account into his bank.

Mrs Ffrench said the cash was earned through taxi driving and the PayPal money was from legitimate eBay trading.

Recorder Hamlin said: “It looks as if this was a commercial handling exercise, with the defendant no doubt in league with people stealing from the plant.”

Selatnia was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 250 hours’ unpaid work.

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to recover some of the money he made will be held at a later date.