Man admits trying to collect drugs from Isle of Man flat

Paul Romeril was handed a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for two years

A man who tried to collect a parcel containing £10,000 of cannabis from an empty flat while wearing a top branded with his employer's logo has been handed a two-year suspended jail term.

Paul Romeril, 39, previously admitted being concerned in the importation of the drug and possession with intent to supply.

The parcel was reported to police by the flat's owner on 28 October.

His sentence was suspended for two years.

The court heard that Romeril visited the flat on Broadway in Douglas, which was undergoing renovation works, looking for a parcel.

When told by the owner of the property it was unoccupied and no package had been delivered he left, but a short time later a parcel arrived by special delivery.

The flat's owner became suspicious and reported it to police when Romeril, of Alder Road in Douglas, returned to look for it later that day.

'Under duress'

Romeril was tracked down through the logo on his hooded top and the works van he had been driving, and later identified through an ID parade.

Messages on his mobile phone showed he had facilitated the sale of a "significant amount" of cannabis between November and January.

In a prepared statement he told police he had committed the offences "under duress".

His defence said he had been a "courier collecting the drugs" for someone else, and had made no financial gain.

Deemster Graeme Cook said he had now "essentially lost your good character after 39 years".

He was also sentenced for possession of cocaine and a previous offence of assisting an offender, after being found guilty of driving two men away from the scene of an assault in July.