THREE men, jailed for the hijack of a French lorry carrying cognac worth £80,000, have had their sentences slashed on appeal.

Michael Slinger, Robert Hickey and Barry Adams were imprisoned after a lorry driver was abducted by three balaclava- clad men at the Sutton Scotney Services on the A34, near Winchester, in November 2005.

Slinger, 43, from Liverpool, together with Adams, 29, from Fife, admitted conspiracy to steal in October last year at Winchester Crown Court.

They were sentenced to six years' and five-and-a-half years' imprisonment respectively.

Hickey, 36, from Liverpool, admitted conspiracy to handle stolen goods and was sentenced to two years.

At the Criminal Appeal Court in London they won a substantial cut in their sentences.

Mr Justice Blair, sitting with Lord Justice Pill and Sir Richard Curtis, said the French driver, was asleep when the gang broke into his lorry.

"All three were wearing gloves and balaclavas.

One held the driver down, while another took the controls and drove off,"

said Mr Justice Blair.

He said the driver was transferred to a smaller vehicle and about four hours later was dumped at an underpass, where he waved down a police car.

The lorry was tracked by police to a warehouse in Warrington, Cheshire.

David Lederman QC, for Slinger, said: "This case is not in the first division, it is not premier league - it is probably championship."

He said that there was no evidence Slinger was involved in the distribution of the cognac.

Lawyers for Adams argued he had only been a scout in the operation - tasked with spotting a suitable target - but he failed and returned home.

Hickey was right at the bottom' of the conspiracy, said his lawyers. He had arrived at the warehouse where he worked an hour after the stolen lorry, and was told to move some of the load.

The court also heard that Hickey's exwife had died just after he started his custodial term, and he was the sole carer of their children.

The judge added: "Although not in the first division, this was a well-planned offence involving a high value target."

However, he reduced Slinger's sentence to four years, Adams' to three years and Hickey's to 12 months.