A FORMER manager of Heathrow Airport was one of three men jailed after they used a skeleton key to steal a £34,000 motorhome.

Martin Allenby, of Constable Close, Hayes, Greater London, had admitted one count of theft of a motor vehicle at an earlier hearing and was jailed alongside Simon Ward, 30, and Tony Down, 20 at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard the owners of the Ford Transit Tribute motorhome were asleep at their home in Church Lane, Chalgrove, in the early hours of July 24 when they were woken by the sound of it being driven off the driveway.

Police tracked the vehicle to a location in Drayton, near Abingdon, where Ward and Down made off in a car and Allenby hid behind another vehicle.

All three men were later caught by police.

Ward, of Colne Park Caravan Site, West Drayton, Middlesex, and Down, of Wood Hill Lane Caravan Park, East Challow, Wantage each denied theft but were later found guilty.

Allenby's defence barrister Ronan McCann said his client had lost his job at Heathrow Airport due to a "downward spiral" after his relationship broke up.

Mr McCann said: "At this point in time he is struggling to afford his own independent accommodation."

The court heard Ward had 14 convictions for 33 offences.

Glenn Harris, defending, said Ward had six children aged between 10 and three and had been effectively estranged from his family as a result of his actions.

Ward was described by defence barrister Alexander Taylor-Camara as an "intelligent man" who was expecting his first child.

Judge Zoe Smith jailed Ward for two years, Allenby for 20 months and Down for 12 months.