A THIEF who was arrested after leaving his DNA on a salad fork at the scene of a burglary has had his jail sentence reduced by judge Mary Jane Mowat.

Aaron Carrol, 27, ransacked a house in York Place, St Clement’s, Oxford, stealing four laptops, computer equipment and cash on June 7.

Ann Evans, prosecuting, said fingerprints on the back door – where he gained entry – and a plastic fork in the salad left at the scene led police to him.

The judge gave Carrol, of Englefield Road, Southampton, 18 months in prison “in view of the seriousness of this burglary and the fact you have many previous convictions”.

But yesterday the judge told him there had been a “misunderstanding” about when his guilty plea had been entered and reduced his sentence to 16 months.