A THIEF who took off with a consignment of stolen nappies, holding off a pursuing police dog with a stun gun, has failed to win a cut in sentence at London's Appeal Court.

Geoffrey Royal, of Manor Street, Accrington, received a seven-year term in July last year for two sets of offences, one relating to the nappy-heist, the other to the torching of a hijacked lorry.

The 25-year-old appealed against the total sentence on grounds that it was excessive, but had his case rejected by Judge David Hodson, sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Mr Justice Beatson.

On February 10 last year Royal targeted a French lorry near Oxford, slashing through its tarpaulin and driving off with 209 boxes of nappies worth £1,500.

Undercover police who had been watching the lorry sped after Royal, but he "bailed out" from his car as it was passing through a nearby village.

He was then cornered by two officers and a police dog, but brandished a stun gun which he used to fend off the dog, said the judge. The dog was finally able to "bring him down", the court heard.

Royal's other offences stemmed from the hijacking of a lorry in Dorchester in May 2002, when raiders forced its driver to get behind the wheel and drive north with his cargo. Royal played no part in the initial hijacking. He only became involved after the lorry reached Lancashire and he was enlisted to help drive it through to Cumbria. By this time the driver had already been released, the court heard.

Once the lorry had reached its destination Royal poured spirits over the vehicle and set it alight "effectively destroying the entire vehicle".

Royal pleaded guilty to theft and using a firearm to resist arrest in relation to the nappies theft. He also pleaded guilty to arson and assisting an offender in respect of the stolen lorry.

The Appeal Court today declined to reduce his sentence and Judge Hodson said the punishment could not be termed "manifestly excessive".