Former Somerset Eagles manager Danvers Seymour Jr.?s sentence was reduced yesterday after Court of Appeals justices agreed it was wrong in principle.

Seymour, 26, was sentenced last August to three years in jail followed by two years probation after he admitted to wounding Michael Troy Sandiford with an electrical knife he carried for work.

The attack occurred at a gas station where the two, who had a history of altercations, bumped into one another.

Three days earlier a brick had been thrown at Seymour?s house, and when he asked Mr. Sandiford about it, the complainant?s reaction appeared to confirm his suspicions that Mr. Sandiford was responsible.

A scuffle broke out between the two, and at one point Mr. Sandiford raised a fire extinguisher while Seymour pulled the knife.

Witness accounts varied on when exactly Seymour stabbed Mr. Sandiford, and when Mr. Sandiford brandished the fire extinguisher.

Yesterday Seymours? lawyer, Craig Attridge, said that while there were elements of both provocation and self-defence in his client?s actions, those elements were not strong enough to mount a legal defence and so the man had pleaded guilty.

However the sentence imposed was not only wrong in principle, but it was manifestly harsh and excessive, he argued.

The judge sentenced based on the version of the facts presented by the Crown, he said ? a version which, will not incorrect, used witness statements that were more favourable to the Crown?s case.

In fact, he added, the judge should have sentenced based on the version of events presented by the defendant.

The sentence should have been in the realm of 12-18 months incarceration with probation.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke said the Crown agreed the sentence was higher than the standard two years incarceration with two years probation.

Without any strong mitigating circumstances in the case, she said, the Crown maintained that two years incarceration with two years probation was an acceptable sentence.

Were the probationary period removed, she suggested Seymour be jailed for three years. The appeal was allowed, and Seymour?s sentence was reduced to 18 months incarceration with two years of probation.

Time already served was to be taken into account.

The Sandys man was touted by many at his sentencing as an irreplaceable youth and community leader who had simply made ?the worst mistake of his life?.