Faces of three Blackburn men jailed for 'Wild West' disorder

Adrian Preston, 39; Ashley Steele, 30; and Paul Stafford, 30; were sent to prison at Preston Crown Court on Tuesday, November 28, relating to an incident on May 31, 2021.

Three other men were involved in the proceedings. David Stafford, 28, and Danny Stafford, 33, were given suspended sentences while the last man, Adam Pilkington, died from circumstances not involved with the case before it was heard in court.

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Claire Brocklebank said there was a “violent confrontation” between two groups in Rothesay Road, Blackburn.

Adrian Preston (Image: Lancashire Police)

The first group, Preston and Pilkington, were in a black Volkswagen Golf, who was in possession of a silver imitation firearm.

In the second group, consisting of the Stafford brothers and Steele, the latter had a black imitation firearm and the others had various weapons.

READ MORE: Six men involved in 'Wild West' scenes involving imitation firearms and weapons

CCTV played in court showed a the Golf arriving at the scene and a large group of people running towards it as it sped away.

Mobile phone footage from the same timeframe showed Danny Stafford appearing to hold a silver object said by the prosecution to be a machete, though no such items were recovered by the police.

Ashley Steele (Image: Lancashire Police)

A second piece of mobile footage showed Paul Stafford kick Preston in the face, while Danny Stafford was seen pushing against the car to intimidate those inside.

During the incident, Pilkington received a stab wound, though the prosecution were unable to say who inflicted it, and there was no suggestion his death was anyway involved with the incident.

Tom Lord, mitigating for Paul and David Stafford, said with their plea and the time since the incident, there was a “good reason to avoid immediate custody.”

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Graham Rishton, for Preston, said his client “does not want that life for himself anymore”, while Amanda Johnson, for Steele, said her client had demonstrated the capacity to change.

Paul Humphries, for Danny Stafford, said his client had admitted his behaviour went too far.

Judge Simon Medland said: “"It is not out of the way to describe what occurred as being comparable to scenes from the Wild West.

Paul Stafford (Image: Lancashire Police)

“Each one of you can lay claim to having made efforts to turn your lives around.

"Each of you can rely on good personal mitigation and it is all the more regrettable for people who have shown you can be productive and useful that I have to sentence you for offences of this seriousness.”

Preston, of Raven Road, Blackburn, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, Steele, of Oban Drive, Blackburn, was given two years custody, and Paul Stafford, of Ailsa Road, Blackburn, was jailed for one year.

David Stafford, of Arran Avenue, Blackburn, and Danny Stafford, of Ballantrae Road, Blackburn, were both given six-month sentences suspended for 18 months.