A robber who made no attempt to hide his face when he was committing his crimes has won a cut in his sentence.

Christopher Dalziell, 25, of The Vale, Grove Hill, Middlesborough, was picked out in identity parades nine times out of ten after raids on shops and a restaurant.

Yesterday, his sentence was cut from nine years to seven by the Court of Appeal.

Judges decided the original sentence was "manifestly excessive" because of Dalziell's relative youth, his guilty plea to all charges and the fact he had made very little out of his unsophisticated crimes.

Dalziell admitted attempted robbery and robbery, at Teesside Crown Court in May.

The court heard he was seen acting suspiciously outside a chip shop. He went in, ordered some food and suddenly produced a knife.

The assistant raised the alarm and he ran off, but a few days later he went into an off-licence, waved a knife around and demanded money.

His next target was a supermarket, where he waved a gun in the assistant's face before snatching £200 from the till.

Mr Justice Sachs said Dalziell had been motivated by his need to fund a drugs addiction