A Radcliffe man who committed a sexual act on a sleeping woman and then assaulted her when she awoke, has had his jail term cut by top judges.

Craig Holden, aged 55, was jailed for ten months at Bolton Crown Court on July 7 this year, after admitting sexual assault and assault by beating.

The woman hit her face on a table after Holden, of Farringdon Drive, committed the act. Upon realising what had occurred, she contacted the police and Holden was arrested.

Lord Justice Laws, Mr Justice Mitting and Mr Justice Walker, sitting at London's Criminal Appeal Court, today cut his sentence to six months.

Mr Justice Mitting criticised what Holden had done as "mean and unattractive." But, he said, it was a comparatively minor sexual assault and "towards the bottom end of the scale of seriousness."

He added: "A term of six months imprisonment would be sufficient and we substitute that sentence.”