HE was jailed for 15 months for arson, criminal damage and possessing a knife, but yesterday Ashley Pash has had his sentence cut.
Pash, 35, of Bulford Close, Hucclecote, was jailed on December 7 when he appeared before Recorder Michael Selfe QC at Gloucester Crown Court, after admiting criminal damage and having a knife.
The offences were in breach of a 12-month suspended sentence he received in November 2011 for setting fire to four cars in Brockworth.
The Recorder had jailed him for three months for the new offences and implemented the suspended sentence in full.
But yesterday, appeal judges in London ruled the 15-month sentence was too harsh.
In the Court of Appeal, defence solicitor Joe Maloney argued it had been excessive to impose the full suspended sentence in view of Pash's partial compliance with the order.
The appeal judges agreed and reduced the sentence by seven months – meaning Pash has to serve a total of eight.
"The judges felt the Recorder had not given sufficient credit to Pash for his partial compliance with the original court order," said Mr Maloney.
The suspended sentence, along with a curfew and 19 sessions of a 'Thinking Skills' programme, had been imposed for two fires started by Pash, which damaged four parked cars in Brockworth.
He started one of the blazes, in April 2011, deliberately to hide his fingerprints after stealing from a car.
But he insisted the other fire, which spread to two nearby cars, happened accidentally after the wiring of the vehicle had short circuited.
Pash had been £1,500 in debt at the time.
The ex-heroin addict has previously appeared before magistrates for stealing a television to pay off his drug debt and shoplifting.
