A DRIVER at the centre of a hijack plot to steal £19,000 of alcopops has been jailed for seven years.

Geoffrey Royal, 29, of Manor Street, Accrington, drove a stolen lorry from which the drinks had been taken and set it alight in a bid to destroy evidence, Leicester Crown Court heard.

Stephen Catterall, 27, of Musbury Crescent, Rawtenstall, who had already served the equivalent of a 13 month sentence while awaiting trial, avoided a jail after admitting he helped to carry out the arson attack, but said he had little knowledge of the overall operation. He was given a five-month curfew order.

Two other men from Bolton were given 18 months in jail for unloading the alcopops from the lorry and another man from the Greater Manchester town was given a community punishment order after admitting handling stolen goods.

The court heard that none of the gang of five were involved in the initial robbery on May 13 last year when HGV driver Malcolm Simmons was attacked with a stun gun as he slept in the cab off the A444 near Stretton-on-the-Hill.

Mr Simmons, dressed in just boxer shorts, had his hands and feet bound with tape and a sleeping bag put over his head.

He was transferred to another van and then dumped near Stoke-on-Trent five-hours later.

Mr Simmons, 54, has been left so traumatised by the incident that he has not worked since, Stuart Rafferty, prosecuting told the court.

As Mr Simmons was removed from the truck, Royal took the wheel and drove to a unit at the Worthington Lake Business Park in Wigan.

With the help of the two Bolton men, he unloaded the cargo of 1,378 cases of Reef drink before driving to Sedbergh in Cumbria.

By this time Catterall had been called and ordered to follow Royal in his own car, the court heard.

Royal then torched the truck, worth £40,000, at a deserted spot.

But police had followed the lorry's navigation signal and arrested both men at the scene.

The other men were arrested at the business park.

Royal admitted assisting an offender and arson, as well as criminal damage, theft, using a weapon with intent and going equipped to steal in relation to another offence committed while on bail.

Judge Andrew Hamilton told them: "This was a Premier League crime and justifies Premier League sentences."