Three former oil industry workers who became the first British business executives to be jailed for price-fixing had their sentences reduced today.

The three, who were involved in a global scam to fix the prices of specialist hoses used to transport oil, successfully appealed against sentences handed down after pleading guilty in June.

Bryan Allison, former managing director of Dunlop Oil and Marine, one of six companies in the so-called marine hoses cartel, had his sentence cut from three to two years at the Court of Appeal this morning.

Peter Whittle, an independent consultant who co-ordinated the worldwide cartel, had his sentence reduced from three years to two and a half years.

David Brammar, Dunlop Oil & Marine's sales director who was jailed for two and a half years had his sentence cut to 20 months.

They will be eligible for release after serving half their sentences.

Giving the original sentences, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin told the three they were guilty of a “carefully orchestrated and comprehensive process” of fixing prices, which has been a specific criminal offence in the UK since 2003.

The judge said that by using codenames, secret meetings and Swiss bank accounts, the three men had conspired to cheat customers, including the UK Ministry of Defence, into paying higher prices for marine hoses, which are used to transport oil from tankers to land storage facilities.

The cartel is the subject of separate inquiries by the European Commission and the US Department of Justice.

Whittle, Allison and Brammar were arrested in the United States last year after a cartel meeting was bugged. They were allowed to return to Britain after striking a plea-bargain with the US Department of Justice, under which they agreed to plead guilty in the UK and serve minimum jail sentences.

All three were disqualified from being a company director at the original sentencing. These disqualifications were not appealed and remain in tact. Whittle was disqualified from being a director for seven years and Brammar and Allison for five years.

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