A man who subjected a 15-year-old boy to an hour-long hostage ordeal in the wake of a "road rage" incident has won a three-year cut in his jail term at London's Criminal Appeal Court.

Neil Brian Franklin, 29, from Carlisle, was sent to prison for eight years at Newcastle Crown Court in July following his conviction for offences of blackmail, kidnapping and making threats to kill.

The Appeal Court yesterday refused him leave to appeal against the convictions, but cut his overall sentence to five years.

Franklin, whose temper was "on a hair trigger" due to psychological stress, dragged teenager Kirk Wood out of a car and forced him into his own vehicle after a collision in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

He then "drove around holding Kirk Wood hostage" at one point threatening to break Kirk's nose and bite it off.

He also demanded money to compensate for damage to his car when it collided with a vehicle driven by Kirk's cousin, Rory Bell, in which the teenager was a passenger.

Franklin challenged his conviction, claiming that the trial judge failed to adequately direct the jury on inferences they might draw from Franklin's failure to give evidence.

But Mr Justice Henriques _ sitting with Lord Justice Mantell and Judge Simon Fawcus, concluded: "This is a case in which there was an abundance of evidence for the prosecution - it required no adverse inference to push this jury to the point of a conviction.