Driver took part in faked hijack
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• A lorry driver's two-and-ahalf year sentence for a faked hijack of his L56,000 load was a fair sentence, a court has decided. David James Abbott of Forest Park, Bracknell was jailed last September at Aylesbury Crown Court. The Criminal Appeal Court in London heard that Abbott was of "previous exemplary character", but had become involved with professional thieves.
Abbott's truck was found in a lorry park in Shepherds Bush, West London, three days after being loaded last March. The load was never recovered and Abbott, promised £5,000 fcir his part in the theft, never received any payment from the raiders. He told police that he had been tempted to get involved in the plan because he was in financial difficulties.
Police found Abbott sitting with his hands tied behind his back beside an M1 emergency phone in Leicestershire.
He appeared to have been the subject of a hijacking but police were not satisfied and arrested him nine days later when he admitted he had helped with the theft.