A Bradford youth caught distributing firearms has won a cut in his jail term at London's Court of Appeal.

But judges ruled the biggest player in the plot - which would have seen six untraceable Russian automatic pistols complete with silencers on the streets of Yorkshire - didn't get a day too long.

In November last year at Sheffield Crown Court, Zaheer Ali, 22, of Oakroyd Villas, Manningham, and Tariq Mahmood, 35, of Whitethorns View, Batemoor, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transfer prohibited weapons. Mahmood received an eight-year jail term, while Ali got four years.

Lord Justice Gage, sitting with Mr Justice Stanley Burnton and Judge Chapman, reduced Ali's sentence to three years and six months.

The judges had been told that he was of previous good character and had only been involved in the conspiracy for one day.

However Lord Justice Gage refused to reduce Mahmood's sentence, observing that a clear message had to be sent out that such distribution of weapons would not be tolerated.

Mahmood's lawyers had argued he had not got enough credit for his guilty plea but Lord Justice Gage observed that he had not owned up as soon as he was caught, instead waiting to see how strong the evidence was against him.

He said: "Gun crime has become all too prevalent in the cities of this country in recent years, and anyone caught must expect to be punished severely."

The court heard that Mahmood, who had a number of previous convictions, and Ali, as well as two other men, had been involved in a plot to distribute six pistols, silencers and ammunition.

When police swooped at a petrol station in Sheffield on June 7, 2006, they seized two guns, two silencers and the ammunition.

A property was raided and a further four handguns were found, along with more silencers and ammunition.

About 500g of heroin was also discovered, although neither Ali nor Mahmood were charged with a drug-related offence.