Australia, Bikie sentence sliced like victim's ears

OFF THE WIRE
AAP
An outlaw bikie who kidnapped a man and sliced off his ears over allegedly stolen drug money has had his sentence cut on appeal.
Aaron Drew Scheers, 26, of Tweed Heads, was sentenced to 13 years' jail in July over the attack on David Holmes.
Scheers and another member of the Lone Wolf motorcycle club kidnapped Mr Holmes from his house on November 3, 2007.
Advertisement: Story continues below They drove him to a national park where they accused him of stealing $40,000 the gang had given him to buy drugs.
Scheers then used a knife to sever one of Mr Holmes' ears and cut the bottom from the other one.
He also sliced Mr Holmes' face, before tying him up and leaving him to find his own way home.
Scheers pleaded guilty on the morning of his trial in the Southport District Court to kidnapping, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company, and grievous bodily harm with intent to disfigure.
In October Scheers took his case to the Court of Appeal in Brisbane, where his lawyer argued the sentence was excessive.
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the application, finding the sentence should be reduced to 10 years.
In a written judgment, Justice Cate Holmes agreed the attack was "appalling in the cold-bloodedness of its commission", but found it "did not have ongoing consequences for the victim physically or psychologically or in terms of his capacity to earn income".
Scheers is also serving a cumulative three-year sentence for attempting to pervert the course of justice, after it was discovered he paid Mr Holmes not to give evidence against him.