A BURGLAR who went back into a home he had just raided, then stole something else during a scuffle, has had his jail term cut.

Appeal Court judges reduced Carl Otto Collier's four-and-a-half-year sentence by a year which means as a short-term prisoner he will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence, instead of two-thirds.

Collier, aged 28, of Edale Close, Atherton, pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court to two burglaries and was jailed on August 29.

Mr Justice Fulford, sitting with Mr Justice Gibbs at London's Court of Appeal, said Collier, who has an "appalling" crime record, was on prison early release licence when he burgled an 84-year-old man's home last May.

The pensioner arrived back at his flat in Rosedale Avenue, Atherton, to discover he had been broken into and 100 cigarettes taken, the judge said.

Unbeknown to him, Collier could not make his escape for fear of being spotted and was actually lurking around outside when the householder returned, the judge added.

He offered to help the victim but instead grabbed him from behind in the second "sneak burglary" and demanded his wallet, Mr Justice Fulford continued.

He said Collier's victim struggled with him and, in the scuffle, the pensioner's wallet fell out of his pocket. Collier snatched it and fled.

Collier, who has previous convictions including false imprisonment, successfully argued through his lawyers that he had been given insufficient credit for his guilty plea.

Cutting his sentence, Mr Justice Fulford said the court accepted some discount should have been granted.