A BRUTAL thug who was jailed for a midnight raid on the home of a terminally-ill cancer patient has had his sentence cut by top judges.

Marley Joseph Ward, 24, was a member of a gang which terrorised shops and homes around York and North Yorkshire on the hunt for valuables.

In one raid, Ward and accomplices struck at the home of a woman in her 70s with cancer, London's Appeal Court heard.

They were chased off by her plucky carer but the pensioner died just weeks later.

Just hours after that, Ward and others hit Thompson's fish and chip restaurant on the A64 between York and Malton, snatching £100 from the till.

In one incident of aggravated burglary in November 2013, Ward was among those who terrorised students in their home near Heslington Street, York.

Weapons were used to force their victims to hand over valuables.

Ward, of no known address, was given a 14-year prison sentence at York Crown Court in June 2015.

He was convicted of aggravated burglary and three other burglary counts.

His case reached the Appeal Court as he challenged both the aggravated conviction and his sentence.

Ward's lawyers claimed the case against him was so weak that the crown court judge should have stopped the trial.

But Lord Justice Elias, sitting with Mrs Justice Thirlwall and Judge James Burbidge QC, said he faced powerful evidence and upheld the jury's verdict.

However, the court cut his jail term to 12 years.

Despite the intense "distress" inflicted on the cancer sufferer, his overall sentence was just "too high", ruled Lord Justice Elias.