THE killer stepson of Usk poet, Anne Jackson, had his sentence for her murder cut by top judges today.

Timothy Patrick Jackson, 49, killed his stepmother, who wrote under the name Anne Cluysenaar, with a kitchen knife at her home in Llantrisant near Usk.

Jackson, of Mount Street, Sheffield, resented Ms Cluysenaar, who had carved out a worldwide reputation as a poet, writing about nature and wildlife.

Jackson was jailed for life at Cardiff Crown Court in March after he admitted his step-mother's murder at her home, Little Wentwood Farm.

He was ordered to serve at least 19 years behind bars before he could even apply for parole.

Jackson's father, Walter Jackson, was asleep upstairs at the time of the November 2014 killing.

There was evidence of rising tensions between Ms Cluysenaar and her stepson in the days before the attack.

One witness described him as seeming to almost "choke with rage" at one point.

Jackson's case reached London's Appeal Court as he challenged his minimum term, arguing it was far too tough.

His legal team urged the court to take account of his "genuine remorse", previous good character and his guilty plea.

"These were particularly brutal circumstances", he said.

But the judge, sitting with Lord Justice Treacy and Judge David Aubrey QC, concluded that 19 years was "excessive".

Jackson's minimum term was reduced to 16 years and eight months.