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Golf Ball Diver Catches A Break

A man accused of being a golf-ball thief had a six-month jail sentence overturned Monday when a British judge ruled the punishment was disproportionate to the crime.

John Collinson was jailed last month after he and a helper were caught red-handed by police with 1,158 balls dredged from the bottom of a lake on the Whetstone Golf Club in central England.

He denied that they were stolen, saying that lost balls belonged to no one. A golf club official told Reuters the street value of the two sacks of balls could be anything between $70 to $700, depending on their condition.

Collinson had spent 10 years in the so-called "lake ball" business, donning diving gear to scour the ponds and lakes of Britain's golf clubs for balls to sell.

He spent nine days behind bars before being released on bail, and Monday his sentence was replaced by a two-year probation.

The severity of the sentence against Collinson, imposed last month, had provoked a public outcry, made the father of two a cause celebre of daytime TV and prompted lawmakers, celebrities and the British media to campaign for his release.

At London's Court of Appeal on Monday, two judges lifted the jail term and gave him a two-year conditional discharge, which means he must stay out of trouble for two years.

The judges agreed with Collinson's lawyer that the sentence was "disproportionate" to the offense and a noncustodial sentence was more appropriate.

But Lord Justice Mark Potter warned that the court did not regard the offenses as "trivial."

He said the decision to impose a conditional discharge was not a "let-off" and should be seen as a deterrent to further "clandestine" nighttime diving expeditions.

Collinson was present in the dock as the two justices announced their decision. He left court with representatives of a national newspaper and declined to comment to other reporters. That means he may be paid for exclusive stories about him.

Collinson has made a modest living diving for lost golf balls and selling them for 15 pence (20 cents) each. He made roughly 15,000 pounds ($21,450) a year collecting balls at courses throughout the country.

He claimed in his defense that they didn't belong to anyone. He told a jury at Leicester Crown Court he even filled out tax returns on his earnings.

But last month Judge Richard Bray, jailing him for six months, said: "It is obvious you show no remorse and no intention of quitting."

Lindsay Hoyle, a governing Labor Party lawmaker who represents Collinson's home town of Chorley, northern England, had raised the case in the House of Commons and urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to look into it.

The diver's girlfriend, Annette Jolly, had appeared on daytime television and given countless newspaper interviews pleading for his release.

Professional golfer Colin Montgomerie, defending Collinson, had been quoted in The Daily Mail newspaper as saying balls lost in lakes were "finders keepers."

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