A TRUCK driver who was supposed to deliver beds to the tune of £16,000 never arrived at his destination -- and sold some of the load for £500.

Burnley Crown Court heard how depressed Carl Rivers, 31, told police he couldn't remember much about what he had done because he had had a blackout.

Rivers, who has been a patient in Burnley General Hospital since he handed himself into police in February, escaped jail, after a judge said he needed help.

Recorder Beverley Lunt gave the defendant a three-year community rehabilitation order and said he must accept treatment by or under the direction of his doctor. She added she hoped Rivers would get a lot better -- and Rivers promised her he would not be back in court.

Rivers had earlier admitted taking a vehicle without consent and theft, and had been committed for sentence by the Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale magistrates.

John 0'Shea, prosecuting, said on 6 February a trailer was due to deliver beds from Silent Night in Barnoldswick to East Anglia.

The trailer owner had taken on the defendant to drive the vehicle to Norwich, it was loaded and Rivers set off.

By February 9, the bed firm's transport manager became aware a number of customers had telephoned because the beds and other items had not been delivered.

Martin Hackett, defending, said Rivers was still on Ward 18 at Burnley General Hospital, where he had been since around the time he handed himself in.