Criminal's jail sentence cut

Jonathan Winston Reid, aged 27, of Sandford Grove Road, Nether Edge, was jailed after drugs squad officers found the weapon and four bullets under a sofa cushion and body armour upstairs in his bedroom.

When arrested Reid denied all knowledge of the gun claiming the house had been used by others. He was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court in June for possessing a gun and ammunition without a certificate.

Judges at London's Criminal Appeal Court, ruled his sentence - the maximum for such offences - was too long.

Mr Justice Underhill, sitting with Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Griffith Williams, said the incident was not so serious as to warrant the maxiumum sentence permitted.

Allowing the appeal, the judge said: "It seems to us that the facts with which we are concerned do not fall into the very top band of seriousness. It was a case deserving a severe sentence."