A man has been put on probation for three years after he stole a motorbike, sped away from chasing police and then burned the bike.

Christopher James Christian, of Kensington Road, Douglas, has 55 pages of previous convictions, including 14 for driving while disqualified, 14 for taking a vehicle without consent or being a passenger in such a vehicle, and five for dangerous driving.

At the Court of General Gaol Delivery he admitted two counts of theft, one of taking a vehicle without consent, and one of dangerous driving.

The probation order is a direct alternative to 17 months custody and the 33-year-old was also ordered to pay £1,000 to the owner of the motorbike.

The court heard that Christian has spent six months on remand, the equivalent of a 12-month sentence.

Deemster Alastair Montgomerie said that, rather than sentence Christian to custody, which would mean that he would be released and then unsupervised in a few months’ time, he had decided it was better to have Christian under the supervision of probation for the next three years.

The deemster was critical of Manx legislation which he said only allowed him to extend the licence period of a sentence for offences relating to violence or sexual offences.

He said that this meant he could not extend the period Christian would be on licence for after his release if he sent him to custody.

He told Christian: ’I know if I sent you to prison for four months, you’re going to come out with no support, you’re going to take a vehicle and drive it dangerously, putting the Manx public at risk. This is really your last chance to turn your life around. I sincerely hope you do, if nothing else for the sake of the Manx public.

Earlier, prosecutor James Robinson told the court how, on October 16, the owner of the Yamaha motorbike had left it outside his Kensington Road address.

The owner and Christian knew each other and both lived at the address but in different flats.

Christian was later seen by police riding the bike on Peel Road in Douglas at night without lights.

He was followed onto South Quay where police illuminated their lights to stop Christian but he then mounted the pavement and headed off the wrong way along a one-way street.

He went through three red lights and the wrong way along two more one-way streets as he rode towards Kensington Avenue as police lost him.

A witness later reported that Christian had collided with his van and become trapped between the van and bike on the ground.

As he went to help him the witness said Christian told him: ’I’ll sort it out. I don’t want police involved. I’ll get you £700 by Sunday.’ He then gave his name as ’Jamie Christian’.

Police then saw Christian again as he rode past them with a passenger on the back of the bike.

The bike was later found burned near Pulrose golf club.

The witness traced Christian to a Facebook account under the name of ’Chris Spudhead’.

After being arrested Christian handed in a prepared statement saying he had not taken the bike, ridden it or destroyed it.

Defence advocate David Clegg said: ’Mr Christian has been on remand since October, nearly six months. The equivalent of almost 12 months custody, so it is my submission there will have certainly been a penal element to any sentence.’

Mr Clegg said that probation had suggested Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) but that this could not be undetaken in the prison.

The advocate also referred to a probation report which mentioned the birth of Christian’s first child which it was said could be a turning point for him.

Deemster Montgomerie was also critical of the fact that DBT was not available at the prison, despite probation being part of the prison service, saying that he could not understand this.

The Deemster also banned Christian from driving for four years with an order to retake his test.