A DRUG addict who stole nearly £10,000 of valuables from his mother to fund his habit has had his jail sentence cut.

Neil Merton was staying with Christine Balcer and her husband so they could help him get back on his feet and off drugs.

This help was spurned by Merton, aged 45, who stole electrical goods and jewellery and even sentimental items that had belonged to his grand- mother.

After the thefts, he left his mother’s home in November, 2013, only to return the next day and break in to steal more.

In May, Merton, of Tintern Avenue, Tonge Moor, was jailed for three years after admitting theft and burglary.

Court of Appeal judges ruled this week that Merton should have eight months slashed from his prison term as the initial sentence was “too long”.

Merton, who has a long history of alcohol and drug abuse, rang his mother on November 21 last year and asked for the bank card she confiscated from him to stop him buying drugs.

A court hearing in London on October 7 heard that when Mrs Balcer got home, her son had packed a suitcase and said he was leaving after rowing with his stepfather.

Mrs Balcer later discovered he had stolen a laptop, ebook reader, tablet computer and a ring — worth £4,289.

The next day he broke into the house and took another £4,970 worth of goods, including a chain which had belonged to his grandmother.

He confessed to the break-in from a bed at the Royal Bolton Hospital on November 23, after breaking his leg in an accident.

When police went to hospital to arrest him, he told them where the stolen goods were and most, but not all, were recovered.

When sentencing Merton, a crown court judge said his crimes were “deliberately targeted” and caused his mother anguish because she believed he planned to sell the items to fuel his addiction.

Merton’s lawyers challenged the term, arguing its length was “over the top”.

Allowing the appeal, Mrs Justice Andrews, sitting with Lord Justice Fulford and Sir Roderick Evans, said: “Having taken all of these matters into consideration, it does seem to us that the appropriate sentence is 28 months imprisonment.”