I'm happy to be free, says businessman who attacked thug after raid ordeal

But Munir Hussain, 53, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said his thoughts were with his brother Tokeer, who remains in prison for the attack.

Hussain was speaking after he walked to freedom from Bullingdon Prison in Oxfordshire following a ruling earlier by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two other judges in the Court of Appeal in London.

Speaking outside his father Zamin Ali's house in Desborough Park Road, High Wycombe, just a few doors away from his own home, he said: "First of all, thank you, all the media, for supporting us while we've been away. That support has been very comforting."

Asking for privacy, he added: "I'm very happy, but obviously my brother is still there."

Hussain's brother, Qadeer Hussain, 45, said outside the house: "He just wanted to thank the general public for the massive support in terms of what happened to him. He seems OK."

At the Appeal Court the judges replaced Munir Hussain's 30-month prison term with one of 12 months, suspended for two years, with a supervision requirement for two years.

They reduced Tokeer Hussain's 39-month jail term to two years. It is understood he could be released in about five months.

The pair, described as family men at the heart of the local community, were jailed last month after being found guilty at Reading Crown Court of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Walid Salem, 56.

He suffered a permanent brain injury after being chased down the street by a group of men and struck with a cricket bat so hard that it broke into three pieces.

Lord Judge, sitting with Mrs Justice Swift and Mr Justice Sweeney, described Munir Hussain's case as one of "true exceptionality" and announced: "The plain, simple reality is that Munir Hussain was acting under the continuing influence of extreme provocation.

"Involvement in this serious violence can only be understood as a response to the dreadful and terrifying ordeal and the emotional anguish which he had undergone."

His family had effectively been kidnapped in their own home: "He feared for their lives and the honour of his wife and daughter."

The family's legal spokesman, Razi Shah, said Munir Hussain had not recovered from his ordeal and every day relived the terror of being imprisoned in his own home.

He also lived with the fear that his family could still be in danger while he remained in prison.

Hussain and his wife and children had returned from their local mosque during Ramadan to find knife-wielding thugs wearing balaclavas in their home.

He feared for their lives as their hands were tied behind their backs and they were forced to crawl from room to room.

Hussain made his escape after throwing a coffee table.