A MAN who held up a woman at gunpoint before telling her it was an April fool trick yesterday had his sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal in London.

John O'Brien, 31, of Eastborough, Scarborough, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years at York Crown Court in January after pleading guilty to assault with intent to rob, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an offence and three counts of burglary.

Mr Justice Holland, sitting with Mr Justice Colman, yesterday reduced O'Brien's sentence to six-and-a-half years, ruling that the original term was manifestly excessive.

The judge said that, at 6.25pm on November 4 last year, O'Brien approached a 43-year-old woman as she waited for her ticket to be processed by a machine in a multi- storey car-park in York.

He began swearing at his terrified victim and pulled out the imitation gun, demanding she hand over everything she had.

The woman threw her bag at him and then ran off, and O'Brien shouted "it's April fool's day" as she fled.

The crime was witnessed by a passer-by, who followed O'Brien as he left the car park and went to a nearby McDonald's restaurant where he dumped the gun in the toilets.

O'Brien was also convicted of three burglaries in the Scarborough area in which electrical goods and jewellery with a total value of more than £1,000 were taken.

Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Holland said the Crown Court judge had taken too high a starting point when sentencing O'Brien.