Mother distraught as son 'trapped in cycle of crime' jailed AGAIN at Preston Crown Court

Kingsley Cairns was sent down for three years for two drugs offences and a charge of handling stolen goods.

Judge Sarah O’Brien said that a letter from the 25-year-old’s family said he was “trapped in a cycle of offending.”

And she told him: “Unless you get and accept help for your mental health issues that cycle will only continue.”

Cairns, of no fixed address, but previously of Sheffield Drive in Lea, Preston, admitted possessing both heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. He also pleaded guilty to handling a stolen e–bike worth around £2,000.

His mother sat wiping tears from her eyes as the court was told the former Myerscough College student wanted to change his life but couldn’t seem to break away from his criminal past.

“He knows the situation he is in today,” said Cairns’ defence barrister Sarah Magill. She told the judge his parents “who love him dearly” had sent in a letter detailing their frustration.

“His mother sits in the public gallery today, as she always does, broken-hearted.

“She has been wishing she could change his life and stop the cycle of crime.

“He fails and fails again. He doesn’t want the life that he leads. He doesn’t want to be in prison.

“He finds himself there (in the dock) because he can’t seem to get on the right track to change his life.

“He knows this will mean immediate custody and he already accepts that. He knows he is responsible. But he doesn’t want his children to follow in his footsteps.”

She added that he had only had the bike for a limited time and the drugs were for his own personal use.

As a 17-year-old Cairns was sent to a young offenders’ institution for six-and-a-half years for wounding another teenager in a knife attack behind the Black Horse pub in Preston city centre in 2016.

His victim, 18-year-old Dominic Horton, almost died and only the skill of surgeons at the Royal Preston Hospital kept him alive in a seven-hour operation, sparing Cairns from a charge of murder.

The injured youth spent 10 days in intensive care and a month in hospital.

The court was told that in February this year a lady’s expensive e-bike was stolen from outside a nursery where she was dropping off her grandchild.

Cairns was later spotted outside a bike shop and told police he had bought the machine. He was also caught in possession of quantities of heroin and crack cocaine, two mobile phones and cash.

Judge O’Brien said the offences had been committed while Cairns was under supervision, having been released from prison just 20 days earlier after serving a sentence for a previous offence.

She said: “The letter from your parents shows you are trapped in a cycle of offending. You were released only 20 days before these offences.”

She sent him to jail for three years on both drugs offences to run concurrently. Judge O’Brien did not impose a penalty for the handling offence.