A JUDGE has slashed the jail terms for five men found guilty of violent disorder during the Burnley riots.

Lord Justice Clarke, sitting with Mr Justice Morison and Judge Richard Brown, at London's Court of Appeal said the gang had "overstepped the mark" in defending their community and homes during the disturbances in June 2001.

The court heard the five Asian men were among an angry 150-strong crowd who took to the streets in response to attacks by white people.

In reducing their sentences, Lord Justice Clarke, said the town's Asian community had been in genuine fear at the time and the five were "lawfully on the streets" to protect their homes from attack.

Although there could be "no excuse" for the crowd's charge on a thin police line, the judge said that none of the offences committed by the Asian group were racially motivated.

Tariq Saddique, 28, of Azalea Street, Blackburn, was convicted of violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon -- a cricket bat. He also pleaded guilty to damaging a CCTV camera system.

His jail term was halved from three years to 18 months.

Mohammed Bashir, 23, of Forrest Street, Burnley, was convicted of violent disorder but had his term halved from 30 months to 15.

Asif Khan, 25, of Crankshaw Street, Burnley, was found guilty of violent disorder and having an offensive weapon -- a sword -- and had his jail term cut from two years to 14 months.

Abdul Rahim Kayani, 19, of Brougham Street, Burnley, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder, had his term in a young offenders institution cut from 18 months to eight.

The decision means he will be freed immediately.

A youth, who was 16 at the time and cannot be identified, got a 12-month detention and training order for violent disorder and having an offensive weapon -- a wooden baton. His term was cut to eight months and should also be released straight away.

The five were cleared of further violent disorder charges which alleged that the Asian group deliberately sought to engage with whites marauding through the Daneshouse district of Burnley.

Lord Justice Clarke said that, by their verdict, the jury had made clear their view that the Asian crowd was "lawfully on the streets" in response to what they saw as an immediate threat to their community.

The incidents over which the five were convicted lasted less than three minutes and the amount of damage caused by the Asian group was "comparatively modest," the judge added.

Although there could be no excuse for using violence against the police, the judge said the charge had been designed to get round the police line rather than confront it.

Pointing to the "stark differences" between the behaviour of white and Asian youths during the violence, the judge concluded: "In our view, the Asian group should have been sentenced on the basis that, unlike the white group, none of the offences were racially motivated."

Mr Hossein Zahir, solicitor representing Kayani, Bashir and the youth, said later: "The jury made it very clear they thought the majority of members of the Asian community present that day acted in self defence and in response to a serious threat from organised racists.

"The court has appreciated the nature of that threat.

"Although a small number of people overstepped the mark for a very short period of time, the judges reduced the sentences very significantly as a mark of that understanding."