A COMPANY boss who masterminded the theft of £50,000 worth of fuel and dumped industrial waste at sites across South Yorkshire has had his jail term reduced on appeal.
Judges heard that 44-year-old Rotherham businessman Andrew Brightmore plotted the theft of around 150,000 litres of red diesel so he could run his plant-hire firm more cheaply and undercut the competition.
He was jailed for six years at Sheffield Crown Court on December 4 last year after previously admitting a string of offences relating to fuel theft and dumping waste.
He also admitted a number of driving offences following a high-speed police chase.
Former farmer Brightmore, of Toad Lane, Brampton-en-le-Morthen, had his sentence cut to four years and seven months after a successful challenge at London’s Criminal Appeal Court.
Mr Justice McCombe, sitting with Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Judge Francis Gilbert QC, ruled the jail term was “too much” for the offences.