A teenager who launched a "frenzied and cold-blooded" knife attack on his piano teacher because he was bored with learning music has won a cut in his six-year sentence.

The court's ruling means the boy is now likely to be released in June 2003.

The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sent to a secure children's home by Teesside Crown Court on September 15 after he admitted wounding with intent former York Guildhall Orchestra musician Christina Thomson-Jones, 49, at her Ripon home.

Yesterday's decision by Lord Justice Rose in the Appeal Court, London, means the teenager will be released before he would have been transferred to a young offenders institution.

Updated: 12:13 Thursday, March 22, 2001