A VIOLENT thug who was jailed after an attack on an assault trial witness had his sentence slashed by top judges at the Court of Appeal.

Ryan Holman, of no fixed address in the Blackburn area, was sentenced to a total of six years at Burnley Crown Court last August for a string of violent offences.

The 23-year-old had admitted affray, having an offensive weapon, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, making a threat to kill and witness intimidation.

He appealed yesterday and saw his total sentence cut to five years by appeal judges, Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Lindblom and Mr Justice Simon.

“We regard these as serious offences and nothing in this judgment should be read otherwise,” Mr Justice Simon told the London court.

“However, in our view, the overall sentence of six years of imprisonment was too long.”

Holman assaulted David Robinson, who was due to give evidence in an assault trial, after accosting him in Stoneyhurst Road, Blackburn, early last year.

After early hours threats by telephone, he went to Mr Robinson’s home with another man and attacked the witness, punching him.

He then made off, leaving Mr Robinson and his companion to go to hospital, where he was treated for a laceration to the side of his head.

Five days later, Holman made telephone threats that he would petrol bomb the house of his former partner’s new boyfriend.

Holman already had convictions for 17 offences, mostly for dishonesty, and had been in prison once for a racially aggravated public order offence.

His lawyers yesterday argued that six years in total was too long for someone of his young age and who had pleaded guilty to all of the offences.