A CONVICTED robber who claimed he acted as Steven Gerrard’s underworld fixer yesterday won a three-year reduction in his jail term at the Court of Appeal – even though he is still on the run.

John Kinsella, 44, of Mile End, Vauxhall, Liverpool, was sentenced to a total of 14 years and three months in prison at Lincoln Crown Court in April after being convicted of rob- bery, dangerous driving and failing to surrender to bail.

But yesterday, despite the fact that Kinsella absconded as his trial came to an end and has never been found, top judges ruled that his jail term was “manifestly excessive” and slashed it by three years.

Accomplice Stephen Mc- Mullen, 50, of Phoenix Drive, Dovecot, who was jailed for 12 years for robbery, also had his sentence cut to 10 years.

Dealing with the case, Lord Justice Moses said he found it a “curious business” that a man on the run from the law was appealing a sentence when he was not even in custody.

During his trial on the robbery charge, Kinsella claimed he had helped the Liverpool and England star after he was threatened by a shady underworld gangster.

Kinsella said he approached the criminal and told him to stop the threats and leave Gerrard alone and that the gangster, known for his violence, had stopped.

He was found guilty by the jury of his part in a robbery at a haulage depot in Grantham, Lincolnshire, in which more than £41,000 of detergent, Easter eggs and Pringles were stolen.

During the March, 2006, robbery, a night watchman was tied up by a gang of up to nine men, wearing balaclavas and camouflage clothing.

No weapons were carried, but he was hit with his own stick after it fell out of his pocket.