A kidnapper who tortured a drug user with a stun gun to make him pay a debt had his sentence cut by the Appeal Court.

Jason Burgess, 36, applied electric shocks to 56-year-old Thomas Guthrie and punched him in the face during his ten-hour ordeal.

At one point Burgess summoned Mr Guthrie's daughter to the flat where her father was held captive, demanding that £3,500 be paid out as a ransom.

He told her that if she involved police he would have no hesitation in "taking her father out," said Mr Justice Jack.

Burgess, of Saxon Road, Hastings, was finally arrested after she handed over the cash at a pre-arranged rendezvous, having contacted police despite the warning.

Burgess was jailed for nine years at Lewes Crown Court after he was convicted of kidnapping in July this year.

He appeal against the sentence on grounds that it was excessive and Mr Justice Jack yesterday reduced it to seven-and-a-half years.

Burgess snatched Mr Guthrie off the streets on October 14 last year after his car was seen parked outside a known drugs den.

The Appeal Court judge said Mr Guthrie was a known drugs user and "may have owed Burgess money for a drugs transaction".

The judge who earlier sentenced Burgess said he had "tortured" his victim with the stun gun, although this was disputed yesterday by his counsel, Tom Nicholson Pratt.

Mr Justice Jack said Burgess had punched and assaulted the older man, using the stun gun to administer electric shocks.

The violence was of a "particularly unpleasant kind", while Mr Guthrie and his family had suffered a "terrifying experience".

But the kidnapping was opportunistic rather than pre-mediated said the judge, concluding that the nine-year term was "more severe than appropriate to the circumstances".

Mr Justice Jack, sitting with Lord Justice Tuckey and Mr Justice Elias, allowed the appeal.