'Lost golfball' man leaves prison

John Collinson made his living from balls lost in lakes

A man jailed for six months for stealing golfballs and selling them is back at home with his family after being freed pending an appeal.

John Collinson, from Chorley, Lancashire, was released on Friday after being granted bail by the Court of Appeal.

His solicitor, Lynne Fantham, said her client was very pleased to be back home and was looking forward to appealing against his sentence in the next few weeks.

Collinson, who was jailed by a judge at Leicester Crown Court last week, was driven back to his semi-detached house in Chorley on Friday night.

'Delighted' by release

Ms Fantham, of Leicester-based Northern and Lindsey solicitors, said: "His appeal against the sentence will be heard within a couple of weeks.

"He was released at 1425 BST and he has now gone back to Chorley.

"I am very pleased and so is he. He is delighted to be going home."

Mr Collinson told a newspaper the humiliation he suffered had made him feel "lower than a dog".

He said: "It was terrifying. I had to strip off and stand naked while an officer took my personal belongings and gave me a uniform.

'Ordinary bloke'

"I was full of fear. It kept coming over me in waves. I had no idea what was going to happen next."

The diver told the paper his cellmate at Welford Road prison in Leicester had tried to help him through the ordeal but he could not adjust to being in jail.

"He told me to create a little world in my head and forget about everything else.

"But I couldn't," he said.

His mother, Sheila, who also lives in Chorley, Lancashire, said: "He is just an ordinary bloke who would do anything for anyone, a doting father who loved his kids.