I cannot contact the person by telephone but he is in contact with the bank and has denied that money exchanged hands between he and I. He has told the bank that he is in liquidation and they are more than welcome to collect the items.
This (finally) appears to be the most important point - the bank (supported by a statement from the original owner) believe that he still owns the goods, not the OP. Do you not even have a hand written receipt from the original owner ?
If not, how can you back up the fact that you believe that you own the goods ?