A BURGLAR caught red-handed trying to steal saddles from a stable owned by an ex-policeman has had his jail term slashed on appeal by over a third.
Michael Allott, 45, got a whack in the head with a torch for his trouble, after blundering into retired cop, Grenville Waddington, in the dark whilst carrying an armload of stolen riding gear.
Allott, who had been carrying a screwdriver when he tangled with the former lawman in August last year, was jailed for three and a half years at Sheffield Crown Court in May.
He pleaded guilty to burgling the stable at Barugh Lane, Barugh Green, and failure to surrender, having not turned up for his trial as directed.
Lord Justice Pitchford, Mr Justice Irwin and Judge Peter Rook QC, sitting at London's Criminal Appeal Court, cut his total sentence to two years two months.
The court heard that Allott and an accomplice blundered into the owner of the stolen gear in the dark whilst leaving the stables and the ex-bobby pursued them when they fled.
One man got away, but Allott was caught and subdued, getting a crack in the head with a torch from the former cop when he spotted that he had the screwdriver.
A TV and saddles worth £5,000 were taken and Allott, who at first told "a cock and bull story," later admitted his guilt.
Mr Justice Irwin today cut his overall sentence, saying that the judge had placed too much emphasis on the fact that the stables had been targeted by burglars before.
He reduced the sentence for the break-in from 38 to 22 months. With four months consecutive for failure to surrender, the new total came to two years two months.
