Lack of accommodation for vulnerable 'very sad indictment' for Island

High Bailiff sentences 26-year-old who was on remand 'at long last'

The High Bailiff has described a lack of accommodation for vulnerable people leaving custody as a ‘very sad indictment for the Isle of Man’.

It follows a delay in sentencing a 26-year-old man after concerns were raised about where he would live when he left prison.

At Douglas Courthouse yesterday (14 March) Jordan Declan John Caley, previously of Woodburn Square, was handed a 12-month probation order.

He’d previously admitted stealing a wallet, containing £45, and prescription medication during a burglary between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Caley also admitted stealing goods from an EVF garage on 21 January and damaging property at a house in Anagh Coar on the same day.  

His advocate said the first offence was a ‘cry for help’ due to his difficult living conditions at the time.

Sentencing in the case had been disrupted whilst efforts were made to find accommodation for Caley who was described by High Bailiff Jayne Hughes as a ‘vulnerable individual’.

It meant he'd served the equivalent of a 14-week sentence with Mrs Hughes telling the court the lack of a homeless shelter on the Island was ‘very regrettable’.

The court heard the probation service had been ‘working very hard behind the scenes’ to secure him a place at a Manx Care run facility which the health body has agreed to fund for a month.

Telling Caley she could ‘at long last’ sentence him Mrs Hughes imposed a 12-month probation order and ordered Caley to pay £150 in compensation.  

Urging him to engage with Manx Care, and his support workers, she told him: “I appreciate that you’ve got difficulties in your own life.”

The chair of the Housing and Communities Board has confirmed government is using bed and breakfast accommodation to house people who are in need whilst work is done to finalise a ‘strategic partnership’ which will help provide emergency provision for those who are homeless.

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