Two west London thugs given life sentences for a horrific knife-point robbery of a pensioner have won sentence cuts upon appeal.

Pablo Stubbs, 37, and Hamid Gani, 44, ambushed a 74-year-old woman as she returned home, tied her up and brandished a knife before turning her home upside down.

Stubbs, of Corfton Road, Ealing , was handed a life sentence at Isleworth Crown Court last December after he admitted aggravated burglary and robbery.

Gani, of Brent Road, Southall , was also sentenced with life at the same court in February after he admitted the offences on a joint-enterprise basis.

Stubbs was ordered to serve a minimum of seven years and one month behind bars before his release would even be considered, and Gani was handed a minimum term of seven years.

But three senior judges at London’s Appeal Court today (November 5) upheld a sentence challenge by the pair, saying their ‘unlawful’ tariffs must each be cut to six years.

Mr Justice Kenneth Parker said the thugs pounced on their vulnerable victim as she entered her apartment building, forcing her into her flat.

They threatened her with a knife, bound her hands and ransacked her home before taking her cash and jewellery, trying to escape across rooftops, but were captured by police.

Alongside the aggravated burglary and robbery, Stubbs admitted having a bladed article and destroying property but received no separate penalty for those.

Mr Justice Kenneth Parker said the victim had suffered lasting effects from the despicable stick-up, which was carried out by two men with ‘appalling’ criminal records.

On appeal, their counsel, Edward Fenner, argued the judge erred in setting their impermissibly high minimum jail terms.

Mr Justice Parker, sitting with Lady Justice Rafferty and Mrs Justice McGowan, said: “The minimum term identified by the judge was an unlawful term and has to be reduced.”

He said that 10 months Stubbs spent on remand before he was jailed will count towards his sentence, while Gani will receive credit for 11 months on remand.