A Douglas man has been jailed after his ’woeful’ efforts to complete a community service order.

David Michael Yeomans, of Murrays Road, completed just 33 hours out of 200 in 18 months and was resentenced to 10 weeks in jail.

Yeomans was imprisoned after he missed four appointments with probation services who described the community service order as unworkable.

This is the second time the 38-year-old has breached the order. He was originally ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work after admitting an offence of deception in December 2016.

Prosecutor Barry Swain told the court how, on June 22, the complainant in the case received a phone call from an unknown man with a Welsh accent asking him if he would like to buy tobacco in bulk.

He agreed to meet the man in the Raven pub car park in Ballaugh.

Once there, he received another call from the Welshman saying that a man called ’Tony’ from the Spar shop would arrive with the tobacco.

At 6.30pm, Yeomans arrived wearing a Spar uniform and told the complainant to pull his van into an alley beside Spar.

Yeomans then gave him three small pouches of tobacco with a handwritten receipt but told the complainant the rest of the tobacco was in his car.

The complainant handed over £1,200 in cash to Yeomans.

Tobacco

The complainant’s phone then rang with the Welshman on the other end of the line saying that he should not go in the shop as the tobacco was stolen.

However, as he was taking the call, Yeomans ran off with the cash, jumped in a car driven by another man and fled.

Yeomans admitted an offence of obtaining services by deception and was sentenced to community service.

In January 2017 Yeomans was charged with breaching the order as he had failed to start it but was given a second chance by Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes.

Defence advocate Paul Glover said: ’Mr Yeomans was enjoying community service at Hospice helping others.

’There was an issue of his ill daughter but there were other times he simply did not attend.

’He knows he has messed up and only has himself to blame.’

Breach

Mrs Hughes told Yeomans: ’Over 18 months you’ve managed only 33 hours with no proper explanation why you have failed so woefully.

’Anyone who breaches a community service order cannot expect it to step down the sentencing order but to step up.’