A man who stole and forged a prescription has been handed a suspended sentence.

Dean Thomas John Costain-Quirk, of Christian Road, Douglas, was sentenced to 10 weeks in custody suspended for two years.

We previously reported that on January 21, Costain-Quirk had an appointment with Community Mental Health Services.

He stole a prescription form, filled in the form for medication he had previously been prescribed, and then went to Lloyds pharmacy in Anagh Coar.

The staff member was suspicious and went to query the form with another member of staff.

When they returned, Costain-Quirk had left the pharmacy.

He admitted theft, fraud by false representation and forging a document.

The offences put Costain-Quirk in breach of a community service order imposed for handling stolen goods and knowingly being a passenger in a vehicle taken without consent.

That order was revoked and replaced with eight weeks’ custody to run consecutively, and suspended for two years.

Advocate Dawn Jones said her client had suffered problems with personal issues and drugs and had been in a hospital in the UK for nearly two years.

She said he had been released against recommendations from the UK hospital and that other recommendations made after his release had not been put in place by the Isle of Man government.

’He was begging the psychiatrist to provide him with more medication and went back into the room and ripped off a prescription,’ said the advocate.

’It was clearly a forgery, it was not a sophisticated attempt.

’He has continued to struggle. It got to the stage where his mother was so concerned about his well being she paid for a placement for him.’