A man who denies kidnapping a lorry driver confessed to a jury yesterday that he succumbed to the temptation of making money from crime.

Philip Price claimed trucker Alan Jones was in on the plot to steal a £171,000 computer load on the M5 slip-road near Worcester.

He denied bundling 57-year-old Mr Jones into the boot of a car after the hold-up and said he went willingly in the back seat to be dropped off in Wiltshire to deflect suspicion.

Twice-wed Price, an HGV driving instructor with five daughters, said co-defendant Terry Cutler had phoned him to say he knew a lorry driver who "wanted to lose a load".

He told Worcester Crown Court: "The pound signs were clouding my vision."

He was due to take a share from the scam after the load had been sold - but never saw a penny.

Police ruled out Mr Jones from the plot after interviewing him. He spent eight weeks recovering.

Price, aged 47, of West Road, Wellington, and 33-year-old Cutler, of Ellis Peters Drive, Telford, allegedly held up Mr Jones at gunpoint while posing as police officers on the motorway slip-road at Whittington.

The load, which came from Evesham.Com, was stolen and Mr Jones released three hours later near Swindon. The prosecution accuses Price and Cutler of being his kidnappers.

The court heard that Price was charged with assault in 1978 after a row with a farmer but agreed to be bound over to keep the peace. In 1983 he was fined £50 for assault causing actual bodily harm following a fight with a lorry driver.

During his evidence, he admitted changing a number plate on a car used in the computer theft on June 21 last year. His DNA was found on the plate by police.

Mr Jones' DNA was discovered from a trace of blood inside the boot of the car he was driven away in.

Price testified that he put plastic cable ties on Mr Jones' hands to make it look authentic before releasing him near a service station.

Price insisted that he alone drove Mr Jones away. But Mr Jones told police there were two men and picked out Cutler on an identification parade.

Price admitted he lied in police interviews because "I didn't want to get caught". He then decided "to tell the truth" because he feared 15 years in jail.

Asked by his barrister, Martin Wilson QC, about the allegation that Mr Jones was taken by force against his will and held captive, Price replied: "There's no truth in that at all."

The trial continues.