A DRUG dealer who shot, stabbed and set fire to a man has had his jail sentence reduced by High Court judges.

David Ford, from Darlington, yesterday had his 20-year term cut by three years and could be released on licence as early as 2016.

Mr Justice Longstaff made the ruling despite conceding that Ford would have received a 30-year sentence under guidelines brought in recently.

Ford was convicted, along with Christopher Michael Boyle, also of Darlington, in 1999, for the murder of 26-year-old Dean Godfrey.

Mr Godfrey died at his home in Albert Hill, Darlington, in July 1998 after being shot in the neck with a sawn-off shotgun, stabbed repeatedly with two knives, and then set on fire.

Mr Godfrey’s body was discovered by firefighters, and it was initially thought he was the victim of a house fire.

But the incident was soon upgraded to a large-scale man-hunt, with police appealing to members of Darlington’s drug fraternity for information.

Following his death, it emerged that Mr Godfrey was a well-known figure on the town’s drug scene.

He was a known heroin addict and was also involved in violence and football hooliganism.

Ford and Boyle, both 38, denied the offence during the trial, claiming they had been on a badger shooting trip at the time of the killing.

They claimed a meat cleaver and spade that were found in Ford’s vehicle were to be used in the badger hunt.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court found the pair guilty, and on May 28, 1999, they were both jailed for a minimum of 20 years. The original trial judge had recommended a sentence of 17 years, but the Home Secretary intervened to impose a 20-year term.

The pair contested their convictions in 2006, but the Court of Appeal rejected their claims. Boyle had his term reduced to the recommended 17 years at London’s High Court last year.

And Mr Justice Langstaff yesterday said he had no option but to make the same ruling for Ford.