Reward for hijack case
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NI A substantial reward is being offered to help catch a lorry hijack gang who snatched a driver and his load in Scotland.
They struck between 23:00hrs last Friday and 01:00hrs on Saturday as the unsuspecting driver of the white Leyland Oaf truck passed through Annandale Water Services off the A74 at Johnstonbridge.
After being flagged down, the driver was bundled into a waiting vehicle and driven to Hebron village near Morpeth, Northumberland, where he was dumped. His lorry— minus its load—was later found abandoned in a lay-by on the A689, six miles east of Carlisle.
The driver, whose tractor was pulling a yellow curtain-sided trailer, had been making a delivery for Glasgow-based AMT Scotland, and was taking high-value cargo—thought to be computer equipment—to a customer In Milton Keynes.
Phil Garfield, a spokesman for AMT Scotland, says: "The driver was asked to pull over and then pushed into the back of another vehicle, which then drove off. Physically, he's OK." He confirmed the man's ordeal lasted several hours and left him shocked but unharmed. Garfield declined to confirm the value of the reward other than to call it substantial.
Dumfries and Galloway police have appealed for information about the truck during the time it was missing. Its registration number is R698 JMA and the yellow trailer carries the Allen Munroe Transport logo.