Coronavirus: Man jailed for visiting Manx homeless charity 'for dinner' after UK trip

Peter Shields returned to the island by ferry on Saturday morning

A man who went for a meal at a homeless charity after returning to the Isle of Man from the UK has been jailed for breaking the island's coronavirus laws.

Peter Shields, of Tynwald Street in Douglas, admitted unlawfully leaving his home address to visit the Sea Terminal and Graih drop-in centre.

Under Manx Covid-19 regulations, everybody returning to the island must self-isolate for a mandatory period.

Shields, 64, was jailed at Douglas Courthouse for four weeks.

The court heard Shields had travelled from Douglas to Liverpool on the Manannan ferry on Friday afternoon.

He returned to the island from Heysham, Lancashire on the overnight Ben-My-Chree crossing.

On arrival at Douglas port, Shields had not completed the documentation needed to enter the island.

He said he "understood" an explanation of the self-isolation rules given to him by port staff.

'Vulnerable people'

At about 18:15 BST he returned to the Sea Terminal to book another ferry ticket to Liverpool and told staff he had arrived back on the island that morning.

Shields, who is unemployed, was then reported to police.

Officers visited his home to find him not there and, when they contacted him by telephone, he said he was at Graih, on Broadway in Douglas, "having dinner".

He was arrested at the drop-in centre and, when questioned, he admitted he "broke the rules".

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said it was a "blatant" breach of the Covid-19 rules, which could have put "vulnerable people" at risk.

He was sentenced to a further two weeks, to run consecutively, after admitting three charges of stealing food and soft drinks from a petrol station in Peel in July.

Mrs Hughes also ordered that a six-month probation order, put in place in June, should continue.