A MAN who swung a golf club during the 2001 Burnley riots has won his freedom following successful appeals by a string of others who also took to the streets.

Asad Khan, 20, of North Street, Burnley was sentenced to 18 months detention at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder. London's Criminal Appeal Court, which was told he had served the equivalent of an 11-month term, cut his sentence to 10 months.

Mr Justice Treacey said this followed from another Appeal Court decision in April which, after analysing in detail the circumstances of the disturbances, cut the sentences of five other participants.

Sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Judge Martin Stephens, the judge said that on the evening of June 24, 2001, serious trouble involving white and Asian youths broke out on the streets of Burnley.

"Khan was seen running towards a police line of six officers who did not have the benefit of protective equipment," he said. "He was seen to be carrying a golf club, in the company of a group of youths. He was towards the front of the group, wearing a scarf around his neck and lower face. He was seen to swing the club at a passing car and a little later he was present when a stick was thrown into a house window."

The sentencing judge accepted Khan made no contact with the car when he had the club and also agreed there was no evidence he personally used violence at any other time during the disturbance.

After seeing a compilation video Khan accepted he had been carrying a club and was part of the group which charged the officers who were blocking the street. "The group of youths was, at that particular point, at least 60-strong and damage was done to vehicles in the neighbourhood and also to house windows," the judge said.

The sentencing judge said that while each defendant was not responsible for every act that took place it would be wrong to look at each person's actions in isolation without having regard to the fuller picture.