Four involved in alcopops theft

Around £75,000-worth of alcopops were taken from the lorry

Four men have admitted handling stolen goods after a lorry carrying alcopops worth £75,000 was stolen.

The men, three from Bolton and one from Accrington, Lancs, appeared at Leicester Crown Court to enter pleas on charges of handling and assisting offenders.

The charges relate to an incident in May 2002 in which a sleeping lorry driver was driven away in his vehicle by other unknown offenders.

The Belgian-registered Eddie Stobart lorry was parked in a lay-by of the A444 at Stretton en le Field in Leicestershire.

Guilty pleas

It was driven away and lorry driver Malcolm Simmonds was finally forced out in Staffordshire.

The lorry was later recovered in Kendal, Cumbria minus its load.

Geoffrey Royal, 29, from Accrington, admitted assisting unknown offenders, who had committed robbery, kidnap and false imprisonment, to dispose of an articulated lorry and its contents.

Mark Norris, 37, from Bolton, and David Hilton, 35, from Astley Bridge, Bolton, pleaded guilty to handling an articulated lorry and its contents.

David Young, 53, from Bolton, admitted handling a quantity of alcopops, knowing or believing that they were stolen.

Mr Royal was remanded in custody, while the other three were given conditional bail while pre-sentence reports are prepared.