Isle of Man visitor jailed after bus journey to locksmith during quarantine

Fraser Nolan arrived on the island from Belfast after obtaining a travel exemption

A woman who was given permission to visit the Isle of Man to take care of her late mother's estate has been jailed for failing to quarantine.

Fraser Nolan admitted taking a bus to visit a locksmith in Douglas on 18 August after arriving from Northern Ireland.

Under the island's Covid-19 rules, non-residents allowed to travel to the island must quarantine for 14 days.

The 60-year-old, of Osborne Drive in Belfast, was jailed for four weeks.

After arriving on the island by ferry on the Sunday morning, Nolan agreed to isolate at a vacant family home in Castletown.

But she left the home two days later and was reported to police via an anonymous tip-off, Douglas Courthouse heard.

Officers went to the house only to find it empty, and managed to contact Nolan on her mobile.

They were waiting for her when she returned and she was promptly arrested, the court heard.

'Put people at risk'

The company director told police she "took a chance" by travelling by bus to have duplicate keys cut, the hearing was told.

She also wanted advice on how to open a safe which was thought to contain documents that could help to get the probate of her mother's will "resolved" two years after her death.

The court heard Nolan had not read the terms of the exemption certificate properly and had "made a very silly mistake".

Sentencing Nolan, magistrates ruled there had been "no real urgency" to make the journey and her behaviour had "put many people at risk".

The island's border remains closed to non-residents unless they are granted an exemption certificate, which requires them to follow strict rules.

Anyone who breaches the rules could face a fine of up to £10,000 or three months in prison.

Nolan's defence had argued for a suspended sentence, insisting she had not read all the detail of her exemption certificate and was not aware of the severity of the penalties.