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A Cornish businessman who targeted a rival company with arson attacks when his livelihood was under threat has had his jail term slashed on appeal.
Plant hire boss Jack Harvey, 69, of The Bungalow, Truro, ordered a series of arson attacks during 2008-9 in which heavy road-milling machines were targeted.
Most of the incidents involved machines owned by rival road maintenance firm Tetlaw, after they began winning contracts in Cornwall at the expense of Jack Harvey Ltd.
Police who raided his base of operations in Buckshead also found stolen machinery worth £27,000, London's Criminal Appeal Court heard.
Harvey was sentenced to a total of 13 years and three months in prison after being convicted of five counts of arson, and pleading guilty to nine counts of handling stolen goods at Truro Crown Court in June and September last year.
He was also ordered to pay £786,000 in compensation and £19,000 in legal costs.
Yesterday that sentence was cut to nine-and-a-half-years by Lord Justice Jackson, Mr Justice Wilkie and Judge Brian Barker, sitting at London's Criminal Appeal Court.
The court heard the businessman, who had built up a multi-million-pound fortune over more than 40 years in business, had gone off the rails after he began losing lucrative contracts with Cornwall County Council to his Devonian rivals.
He "orchestrated the attacks", the court heard, which were actually carried out by two other men.
Harvey's lawyers asked the judges to cut his total term to below ten years, saying the sentence as it stood was "crushing" for a man of his age.
The court heard that anyone who receives a sentence of ten years or more must serve their term at a category B prison and that the nearest one is in Lincolnshire. This means his 67-year-old wife has been facing a 10-hour, 500-mile round trip to visit him.
The court also heard that Harvey is likely, in the course of time, to face a £6 million confiscation order with a further prison term in default of payment.
Mr Justice Wilkie, giving the court's judgment, agreed to cut his overall term as "an act of mercy".
Cornwall news, Jobs, Sports, Cars, Homes | This is Cornwall
A Cornish businessman who targeted a rival company with arson attacks when his livelihood was under threat has had his jail term slashed on appeal.
Plant hire boss Jack Harvey, 69, of The Bungalow, Truro, ordered a series of arson attacks during 2008-9 in which heavy road-milling machines were targeted.
Most of the incidents involved machines owned by rival road maintenance firm Tetlaw, after they began winning contracts in Cornwall at the expense of Jack Harvey Ltd.
Police who raided his base of operations in Buckshead also found stolen machinery worth £27,000, London's Criminal Appeal Court heard.
Harvey was sentenced to a total of 13 years and three months in prison after being convicted of five counts of arson, and pleading guilty to nine counts of handling stolen goods at Truro Crown Court in June and September last year.
He was also ordered to pay £786,000 in compensation and £19,000 in legal costs.
Yesterday that sentence was cut to nine-and-a-half-years by Lord Justice Jackson, Mr Justice Wilkie and Judge Brian Barker, sitting at London's Criminal Appeal Court.
The court heard the businessman, who had built up a multi-million-pound fortune over more than 40 years in business, had gone off the rails after he began losing lucrative contracts with Cornwall County Council to his Devonian rivals.
He "orchestrated the attacks", the court heard, which were actually carried out by two other men.
Harvey's lawyers asked the judges to cut his total term to below ten years, saying the sentence as it stood was "crushing" for a man of his age.
The court heard that anyone who receives a sentence of ten years or more must serve their term at a category B prison and that the nearest one is in Lincolnshire. This means his 67-year-old wife has been facing a 10-hour, 500-mile round trip to visit him.
The court also heard that Harvey is likely, in the course of time, to face a £6 million confiscation order with a further prison term in default of payment.
Mr Justice Wilkie, giving the court's judgment, agreed to cut his overall term as "an act of mercy".
Cornwall news, Jobs, Sports, Cars, Homes | This is Cornwall
