A man who said conditions at the prison have infringed on his human rights has been jailed for eight weeks.

George Maclaren, aged 43, of Viking Road, Willaston, pleaded guilty to breaching the Emergency Powers Act and resisting arrest.

Prosecutor Rebecca Cubbon told the court that police attended a flat in Woodbourne Road, Douglas, at 5.55pm on April 26 following reports of a man who did not live at the address being present.

Officers found Maclaren with the occupants of the flat.They said Maclaren refused to leave when asked and became verbally aggressive.

When officers went to arrest him, he resisted and made a motion to suggest he would spit in the direction of one officer who pushed him away.

Maclaren did not spit at the officer and no spittle left his mouth.

Maclaren told police he had been taking medicines to his girlfriend’s mother and stayed the night to play music and drink alcohol.

He said that he believed he was now allowed to with the relaxation of restrictions last Friday.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode said that his client had heard that certain restrictions had been changed and ’took it to understand’ that he could go out as much as he pleased.

Mr Kermode said Maclaren accepted he was unco-operative but that he initially ’didn’t understand why he couldn’t be there’.

The advocate said that since the restrictions on movement were relaxed, the distinction between that and gatherings was ’not clear’.

He suggested police could have dealt with the issue by way of a fixed penalty notice, which was available to them. However, he added that he had been informed that despite having the legal authority, officers had not been issued with the tickets.

The court heard that since being held on remand, Maclaren had been locked up for 24 hours a day and had not had access to exercise, phone calls or a shower.

He had only been allowed to speak to his advocate Mr Kermode, who said: ’You would expect the prison to be treating prisoners properly.’

permission

Mr Maclaren, who was granted permission to address the court on Tuesday, read a prepared statement where he said: ’I believe my human rights have been severely infringed.’

He told the court that he had not been able to shave and had been left to wear the same clothes, including socks and underwear, for several days.

And he said the experience had impacted on his mental health.

Mr Kermode said it was a ’distressing’ experience for people in prison.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said she ’accepts’ that life in prison is difficult for everyone but that she could not comment on the conditions people are being held in.

She said that while the rules were relaxed and that Maclaren ’did nothing wrong’ in collecting the medicines, he was not allowed to stay the night.

Mrs Hughes added that he had put everyone in the flat at risk of Covid-19 and that the resisting arrest charge was a ’serious offence’.

She sentenced Maclaren to eight weeks’ custody for the charge of resisting arrest charge, with a four-week sentence for the Covid-19 breach to run concurrently.