A man who tried to breach an alcohol ban by wearing a disguise to buy booze from Tesco has been put on probation.

Jonathan Richard Fletcher, 51, of Mona Street, Douglas, donned a Russian-style hat and glasses in an effort to beat the ban but was recognised by staff.

He admitted two counts of attempting to breach a licensing ban as well as one of wasting police time in relation to another incident. Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month probation order.

Fletcher was handed a six-month alcohol ban in July.

But on November 14, staff at Tesco reported he had tried to buy two two-litre bottles of cider. It was then discovered that 15 minutes before that he had successfully bought two bottles of cider without being recognised.

Fletcher was wearing a Russian-style hat and black-rimmed glasses and said: ’That’s not me,’ when shown his picture in the banning book. CCTV footage showed both incidents.

On November 25 at 6.10am police received a ’999’ call from a Fletcher who said he wanted a number of items returned which had been seized by police.

He was told not to call the emergency number but called again three more times. On the fourth call he said he had a Stanley knife and swore.

He continued to ring and became more aggressive, saying he was going to harm himself. Police attended his home and found Fletcher asleep. He admitted wasting police time.

A probation report said Fletcher had long-standing mental health issues which were affected by his alcohol use.

Advocate Paul Rodgers said: ’Mr Fletcher has a strong intellect. He could be described as having a niche sense of humour. It has been two months now without any offences. Ongoing intervention is a positive way of helping him progress.’