A “PROFESSIONAL thief” who stole £24,000 of blank CDs from a parked lorry on the A34 claimed he did so after hearing his girlfriend had turned to prostitution to stave off debts.

Geoffrey Royal, 36, left, transferred loaded pallets to his own lorry in a layby near Weston-on-the-Green on October 7.

He was jailed for three years at Oxford Crown Court today after admitting a charge of theft at an earlier hearing.

He asked for three other offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard Royal, of Manor Street, Accrington, in Lancashire, often travelled long distances to carry out such thefts and had 12 previous convictions for 28 offences, including being jailed for seven years in August 2003, of which three years were for thefts from motor vehicles.

Mark Dixon, defending, described what led to the theft. He said: “He discovered his partner had been offering herself for sexual purposes due to limited income.

“He said ‘You’re not doing that any more’ and it pushed him over the edge.”

Judge Bruce McIntyre told Royal, who was out of prison on licence when he committed the offence: “You are just 36. It’s about time you grew up.

“The only person to blame is you, it’s not your girlfriend and what she is doing. Nobody makes you go out and steal.

“You are a professional thief specialising in stealing from motor vehicles.”