A MAN jailed for handing petrol and a lighter to a friend who was trying to kill himself has had his 12-year sentence cut.

Kevin Howe, 20, was found guilty of assisting attempted suicide by Durham Crown Court in October after providing Stephen Walker with all he needed to set himself alight.

However, three judges at the Court of Appeal, in London, today (Monday, February 10) reduced his sentence to ten years.

Mr Walker, 31, suffered 95 per cent burns after the blaze at his home in Walker Drive, Bishop Auckland, on May 26, last year.

The pair had been close friends and had consumed a large amount of alcohol on the night in question. Mr Walker said he wanted to set himself on fire and Howe cycled to a petrol station to buy fuel.

Lord Justice Treacy, who was sitting with Chief Justice Lord Thomas and Lady Justice Macur, said that ''notwithstanding the gravity of this offence'', more weight should have been given to his age, immaturity and absence of previous criminal record when he was sentenced.

He said the offence of encouraging or assisting suicide under the Suicide Act 1961 was a crime which is ''relatively rarely prosecuted''.

The Howe case is the first prosecution since guidance from the Director of Public Prosecutions was issued to prosecutors in 2010 in relation to such offences.

Lord Justice Treacy said ''miraculously'' Mr Walker survived, but his injuries will have a permanent effect ''and are of the gravest nature''.

He said the resolution of cases of this kind coming before the court ''will involve a particularly fact-specific examination'', stressing the ''need for each case to be considered on its own facts''.

Ruling on the Howe case, he added: ''The evidence does not suggest to us that the victim had an informed and settled intent to take his own life.

''Our judgment is that his state of mind was less certain than that. In any event he did not have the means of acquiring the petrol, and the appellant had the means of intervention by refusing to obtain it.

''These actions were not carried out in the context of a very elderly and terminally ill person who was suffering and wanted to be put out of their misery.

''There were no compassionate circumstances. This is not a mercy killing, nor does it involve a suicide pact, a class of case which can be regarded considerably less seriously.''

He added: ''In our judgment, a consideration of the harm and culpability aspects of this case show, that this is a case of very high seriousness.''