A businessman who bought a speedboat for £1,200 and parked it outside his family tyre firm for two weeks has been convicted of handling stolen goods.

Wayne Boardman, 29, of The Street, Wallingford, was found in possession of the boat and a site level -- a large spirit level used to check road surfaces are flat -- both of which were stolen, Oxford Crown Court heard.

Sentencing on Boardman, who had denied two charges of handling stolen goods, was adjourned until January 3.

John Simmons, prosecuting, told the court: "On the strength of a ten-minute conversation this man parted with £1,200 for a boat brought into his tyre shop on a trailer. Its rightful owner thought it was worth three times that amount."

Boardman claimed to have taken the site level from another customer in lieu of payment for tyres.

Christopher Blake, defending, said: "With the speedboat it is a matter of common sense: if he had acted dishonestly believing it to be stolen he wouldn't have allowed it to be on public view."

He said Boardman had fitted tyres to a car for two men, before they realised they had no money. He took the site level from them as security.