Paul Williams, defending, told the court: “Mr Haddad suspected they were stolen.

“Two men came into his shop and he foolishly bought them.  An internet link flagged up the  computers.”

Vital work records including client details and confidential accounts were also recovered using  the remote technology before the laptops themselves were found.

Simon Albert, operations director of the Waterloo-based PC Support Group, said: “In a digital  world, technology means criminals have nowhere to hide.

“Using our systems and a combination of software, we were able to take copies of the  important files even after they had been stolen. 

“We then captured the applications being used and activated the webcam. We were able to  keep track every time someone logged on and see exactly what they were looking at on the  internet.

“This included the Auto Trader website which meant we knew exactly where he lived when he  keyed in his postcode.”

Linda Adkins, company secretary at The International Coaching Academy,  said: “The laptops  contained several years’ worth of work.  Unfortunately I hadn’t backed up the computers or  copied anything to discs. 

“Losing work information was a massive disruption, before this I just took for granted that all my  important documents would be completely safe on my machine.” 

Haddad was given a three month curfew order.