He would say that wouldn't he. If he was really innocent all he had to do was style it out, maybe not use the bike for a few weeks.
Should have given the fúcker the birch.
It could easily have been a mistake. Chap gets wildly pissed, forgets he walked to the pub rather than took his bike, clambers onto someone else's bike in error, wakes up and everyone's calling him a bike thief.