A YOUTH who stabbed a disabled bus passenger 12 times after his victim remonstrated with him for being rowdy has had his 'manifestly excessive' jail term reduced by a third.

Days before the attack on a bus travelling out of Redditch town centre in February last year, Daniel Hinton had bitten off part of the ear of a town shopkeeper in an unprovoked attack, London's Court of Appeal heard on Monday.

The 20-year-old of Felton Close, Matchborough, was given a total of 15 years in a Young Offenders Institution for the unconnected incidents.

He had pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was sentenced last December.

But judges sitting in London today agreed with submissions on behalf of Hinton that the prison sentence handed down to him was too high.

They cut it to 10 years after hearing submissions from his lawyer, Andrew Lockhart, that the original sentence was so long it 'effectively turns out the lights at the end of the tunnel for him.'

Mr Justice Silber said that, after the ear-biting attack on Redditch off-licence shopkeeper Zulficar Ali, Hinton realised he needed help and made an appointment to get on an anger management course.

But days later, before the appointment came through, his next victim, Neil McKusker, was on the receiving end of a frenzied stabbing attack, the judge said.

Mr Justice Silber added that it was only the actions of the quick-thinking bus passengers and driver - who between them agreed to drive the stricken man straight to hospital - that saved his life.

The judge, who was sitting with Lord Justice Rose and Mr Justice Fulford, said that despite the severity of both attacks the victims had suffered no permanent ill effects, with Mr Ali successfully undergoing plastic surgery.

But the court heard, in the case of Mr McKusker, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and cannot stand up properly, it was 'more by luck than judgement' that Hinton's blows had not done any lasting damage.

Doctors had to treat him for punctured lungs, spleen and lower intestine, Mr Justice Silber added.

Earlier in the hearing, Mr Lockhart told the judges that the 15-year term was so long that it 'would draw a very sharp intake of breath even from the most hardened of criminals.'

He added that, short of a life sentence, it was 'one of the longest' that could be imposed on someone who was 18 at the time of the offences and whose previous convictions were for dishonesty and criminal damage.

Mr Lockhart said both Hinton and his mother were shocked at the length of the sentence.

He said the 15-year stretch was 'a great disincentive' for other defendants in a similar position to Hinton to plead guilty in the future.

Reducing Hinton's prison sentence to ten years, Mr Justice Silber recognised it was his first time behind bars, he had pleaded guilty, had not been previously convicted of violence and that his victims had not suffered permanent damage.