A SECURITY guard who appeared to be the victim of a violent raid on a tyre depot turned out to be an accomplice in the crime.

John Morris had handcuffed himself and allowed himself to be hit in the face by one of his fellow crooks to make it look as if he had been attacked.

But Morris later confessed to police that he was involved in the theft of tyres he was supposed to be guarding.

At Gloucester Crown Court, Morris, of Albert Rd, Ledbury, was jailed for nine months after he admitted his part in the £7,500 burglary at Bristol Street Motors in Gloucester, on October 16 last year.

Recorder Jonathan Acton-Davies QC told him: "This offence was pre-meditated and carefully planned and it involved you making a false statement to the police after it was over.

"It involved a breach of trust and the lowest sentence I can pass is nine months."

Mr Burgess said 35-year-old Morris had been working at Bristol Street Motors for about five months when the raid took place.

Jumped

Morris told the delivery driver who found him that he had been jumped by five men who escaped with tyres from the Rapid Fit depot.

After he was treated for his injuries, he told police the thieves attacked him.

"Police inquiries led them to a garage in Cheltenham where they recovered 173 tyres," Mr Burgess said.

"They then received information that the defendant was an accomplice. He made admissions later."

Morris told detectives that two other men had been involved. One had worked there in the past as a security guard.

"They had arrived there shortly before midnight and took the van and tyres," Mr Burgess added.

"They had returned at 2.45am, done some damage to a barrier to make it look as if they had forced entry, and Morris handcuffed himself.

"One of them punched him in the face to make it look as if it was an authentic raid".

Mr Rupert Lowe, defending, asked for as much leniency as possible for Morris who had a wife and mother who were both dependent on him.