Manchester man banned from IoM for 5 years after flying in with cannabis

32-year-old couldn't provide information about what he was doing on Island

A Manchester resident has been banned from the Isle of Man for five years after being caught with cannabis at the airport.

Niall Caraher, of Johnson Street, arrived at Ronaldsway on a flight from Liverpool at 3pm on 15 November.

However customs officers became suspicious about what he was doing on the Island when he couldn’t provide information about where he was staying or the purpose of his trip.

Caraher told them he’d booked his ticket that morning, and was going home the next day, adding he comes to the Island around four times a year in order to ‘clear his head’.

He was described as being hesitant and uncertain in his answers to questions telling officials he would be staying somewhere ‘on the front’ near the Sea Terminal.

Pizza Hut was one of the few places Caraher could name and he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, provide any details of people who he knew on the Island.

When he was searched 3.5 grams of the Class B drug was found in a pair of shorts he was carrying; the cannabis had a street value of £70.  

Appearing at Douglas Courthouse the following day, on his 32^nd birthday, Caraher pleaded guilty to producing drugs from the United Kingdom to the Isle of Man.

His advocate told the court: “He takes full responsibility for the cannabis found.”

She also claimed that her diabetic client had told her he hadn’t been given access to his medication whilst in police custody something Deputy High Bailiff Graeme Cook said would be ‘outrageous’ if true.

He fined Caraher £200 and ordered him to pay £125 in prosecution costs as well as imposing the exclusion order.