Convicted killer sent back to prison

A convicted killer was caged again today for battering two women while free from prison pending his failed appeal over his first victim's death.

Allan Carey, 21, was previously caged for three years for killing Sam Johnston, 22, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire.

But he contested his conviction - and was released just eight days after being caged, while his appeal went through the courts.

While free, he attacked Angela Sharp and, along with his mum Caroline Donald, also battered and bottled Bernadette Burns.

Violence erupted at a flat in the seaside town in August 2015 after Sharp, 46, intervened in a row between Carey's mum and another woman.

And it ended with Sharp being repeatedly punched on the head by Carey - and Burns being beaten and bottled over the head by him and his mum.

Carey denied battering Sharp and Burns and went on trial over the offences at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

Sharp told the court: “He punched me five or six times to the side of the head and face. I fell back dizzy.”

Sheriff Brian Murphy found Carey guilty of assaulting Sharp and him and his mum guilty of assaulting Burns by punching her on the head, pulling her hair and bottling her.

The case was adjourned for background reports and the mother and son returned to the dock today to learn their fate.

Defence solicitor Roselyn Gallen said she disagreed with a social worker who assessed Carey ahead of sentencing - and ruled he is "a high risk of causing serious harm."

She explained: "Mr Carey was convicted of Sam Johnston's killing on an art and part basis.

"They are saying he is capable of extreme violence on the basis of that conviction and I have to take exception to that."

She said he was due to be given home release - which would have seen him spending time at home to prepare for full release - in October but it had been cancelled because of the attacks on Sharp and Burns.

And she said he was due to start a job as a labourer - with a view to getting a trade - when released.

Defence lawyer Katy Dawson said Allan's 35-year-old mum Caroline Donald, who was prosecuted under the name Caroline Carey, had lost her job as a carer as a result of the court case.

The lawyer added: "Her depression and anxiety have kicked in and she had been to the doctor and now receives a prescription in relation to anti-depressants."

Both lawyers asked for Community Payback Orders to be imposed but Sheriff Brian Murphy slammed the mother and son for their conduct - and ruled he had to lock Carey up.

As he caged Carey for nine months, to begin when his sentence for killing Johnston ends, the sheriff blasted him for his "lack of remorse" and added: "This was a serious matter involving repeated punches and, so far as Bernadette Burns is concerned, the use of a bottle.

"The gravity of the matter has to be reflected.

"There is no other appropriate sentence for you, Mr Carey, than a custodial one, given the circumstances."

Carey's mum was placed on a Community Payback Order which will see her supervised by social workers for 12 months and carry out 150 hours' unpaid work over the next six months as a direct alternative to a custodial sentence.

Carey smiled and waved to family as he was led away to begin his sentence.

Carey and pal Stuart McCulloch, 20, were locked up in December 2014 over the death of Sam, a young father.

McCulloch, then 18, was given 13 years and five months, while Carey was handed three years.

By the time he was cited for the attacks on Burns and Sharp, Carey's appeal over Sam’s killing had failed and he was back in custody.

The killing took place at a house party in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, in October 2013.

A number of friends at the bash desperately tried to save Mr Johnston's life but the aspiring businessman, who set up had his own firm, Johnston Processing, died from massive blood loss.

McCulloch blamed 22-year-old Fergal Morgan - who was also accused of murder but walked free - for the fatal stabbing, claiming his own DNA was only on the murder weapon because Morgan handed it to him and asked him to get rid of it.

But the jury rejected his version of events and convicted him.

As he caged the pair in December 2014, Judge Bill Dunlop told McCulloch: "This is another senseless and tragic loss of life caused by the incomprehensible and casual indifference for the use of knives in the west of Scotland."

The judge told Carey, who had also faced a murder allegation, that the jury must have been satisfied he was involved in an attack but that the part he played was "impossible to know."