A TEENAGER who asked magistrates to send him to jail got his wish.

Blackburn magistrates heard Kyle Kelbie had been drinking heavily to blot out the fact that his mum and dad had both died within two weeks of each other and saw a spell in prison as a way out of his current downward spiral.

Kelbie, 19, of Napier Street, Nelson, pleaded guilty to burglary at Purple Homes Letting and theft of a charity box and medication. He was jailed for 12 weeks.

Alex Mann, prosecuting, said a window at the shop had been broken to gain entry and CCTV showed two males inside the premise. Kelbie told police he had no recollection of the incident but accepted he was filmed inside the shop.

Zabair Afzal, defending, said Kelbie had come to Nelson from Dundee at the request of his grandmother to see his father before he died of cancer. A week after the death of his father his mother also died.

"He says he has been drinking very heavily to block out his pain and escape from his personal grief," said Mr Afzal. "Whatever happens today he will be taken back to Dundee where he is in breach of a probation order and he believes a spell in prison would help him sort his head out."