A TRUCK driver who sexually abused a girl in the cab of his lorry has been jailed for six years.

Chris Govier groomed his victim to such an extent she said she fell in love with him, Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 61-year-old defendant admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child at an earlier hearing.

His offending took place between July 2010 and March this year.

Govier, of Cotmore Close, Thame, was caught out when his wife found explicit texts and the victim’s mother found her diary.

In an extract read out in court, the girl wrote: “I love him, I’ve never felt like this for anyone. I really want to go away with him.”

Jonathan Coode, defending, said on viewing the girl’s filmed interview he thought she was much older than she was.

He said the girl and Govier viewed their relationship as an “extra-marital affair” and said of the victim: “Her tune changed dramatically when her mother found out about it.

“Had she been in her late teens, as she comes across, no offence would have been committed.”

Judge Patrick Eccles also handed Govier a 10-year Sexual Offences’ Prevention Order and told him to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.