Two men in plot to kill singer Joss Stone have jail terms cut

[May 20, 2014]  LONDON (Reuters) — Two men found guilty of plotting to murder and rob British singer Joss Stone because they were angered by her links to the British royal family had their jail terms cut on Tuesday by an appeal court.

Kevin Liverpool and Junior Bradshaw were jailed in April 2013 after a court heard of their plan to behead the Grammy Award-winning singer before throwing her body in a river near her rural home in southwest England.

The pair had a deep hatred for Stone because she had performed at a charity event organized by Princes William and Harry and she had attended the 2011 wedding of William and the Duchess of Cambridge, formerly Kate Middleton.

Liverpool, then 35, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months but the three Court of Appeal judges reduced his minimum term to 6-1/2 years on Tuesday, a court spokesman said.

Bradshaw, then 32, received an 18-year jail sentence which was reduced to 10 years.

The two men, both from Manchester in northern England, had denied the charges. Court documents did not list the reason for the reduction in their sentences.

The court had heard they were arrested near Stone's home in June 2011 with an arsenal of weapons after neighbours reported them as acting suspiciously.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; editing by Stephen Addison)

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