A KIDDERMINSTER man jailed for falsely obtaining £4,335 in state benefits has walked free after a successful appeal at Worcester Crown Court.

Terence Hudson had failed to declare he was receiving a modest pension when he made claims over a six-year period, said his counsel Nicolas Cartwright.

Hudson, aged 54, of Dowles Road, on the Rifle Range estate, was jailed for four months by Kidderminster magistrates after admitting making false claims for benefit.

But the sentence was cut to six weeks by Recorder Gareth Evans QC, sitting with magistrates, and Hudson was released immediately because he had served three weeks.

Mr Cartwright said Hudson had to give up work because of a back injury.

His first claim for benefit in 1995 was genuine but he did not reveal a month later that he had become entitled to a pension.