A 'one-man crime wave' - who was spotted by a victim wearing the clothes he had just had stolen from him - has had his jail term cut by top judges.

Reece James Newman, of Penn Avenue, Chesham, was jailed for a total of three years at Aylesbury Crown Court in July.

The 27-year-old got 18 months behind bars after he admitted two counts of theft from a motor vehicle.

And an 18-month suspended sentence, imposed in January for similar offences, was also activated in full.

Newman also asked for 31 similar crimes to be taken into consideration, Mrs Justice McGowan told London's Appeal Court on Friday.

He took clothing and coins, worth £200 in total, from a car before later pinching a wallet, tools, clothing and a watch, worth a total of £950, from another vehicle.

In a 'bizarre coincidence', the second victim bumped into Newman later the same day in a branch of Iceland.

Newman was 'extremely rude and offensive' to the man - who spotted that the prolific thief was wearing his clothes.

Police were called and he was arrested and taken into custody, where he admitted to other offences.

In a 'drive around', he pointed out a number of locations where he had broken into cars before.

He had an 'appalling record' and was 'undoubtedly a prolific offender', said the appeal judge.

Lawyers for Newman said the judge who jailed him had described him as a 'one-man crime wave'.

They argued his jail term was too harsh and should be cut.

"We accept the force in the submission that the combination of these sentences led to a term of imprisonment which was too long in total," said Mrs Justice McGowan.

Allowing the appeal, the judge reduced Newman's jail term to two years and six months.