A "sadistic" young woman who put on terrifying clown makeup before repeatedly stabbing her on-off boyfriend has had her jail term cut.

Zoe Adams, then 19, "had an interest in sexual sadism" and had stored images of "restraint and murder" on her phone.

She put a pillow over the face of her 17-year-old occasional lover Kieran Bewick and knifed him five times, London's Appeal Court heard.

The teenage author had a fear of clowns and one of the knife wounds punctured his lung, a life-threatening injury which saw him spend 10 days in hospital.

Adams, now 20, of Brindlefield, Wigton, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in May.

Judge James Adkin jailed her for 11 and-a-half years, with a four-year extended licence period, following Carlisle Crown Court.

But now appeal judge, Mr Justice Lewis, has cut her prison sentence to nine years. The extended licence period was also reduced to three years.

The court heard Adams attacked her victim in the bedroom of her home after they had both been drinking.

She had previously sent him a message, saying that she thought that all men were good for was "human sacrifice".

Knowing of his phobia of clowns, she put on the creepy makeup before suggesting they had sex.

She then put a pillow over his face and, whilst his vision was obscured, brought out a knife she had concealed and attacked him.

Lawyers for Adams asked for her sentence to be cut in light of her youth and the progress she has made since being locked away.

She has enrolled on self-help and Open University degree courses and "with proper supervision could be released and not commit any further crimes," the court was told.

Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Lewis, who was sitting with two other senior judges, noted that "she was only 19 when she committed the offence."

"We substitute a sentence of nine years and an extended licence period of three years," he concluded.