A woman has appeared in court after being arrested when she failed to turn up for her trial.

Hannah Thomson, aged 35, of Tromode House, Douglas, was due to face a trial on Monday (December 14) after pleading not guilty to a charge of vagrancy.

However, she didn’t turn up despite being bailed to appear on that date.

She was found guilty by magistrates in her absence and then arrested after a warrant was issued.

Thomson appeared in court on Tuesday and claimed that on her last court appearance, magistrates had told her they ’would not be concerned’ if she didn’t attend the trial.

However, after a short adjournment, High Bailiff Jayne Hughes told her she had listened to a recording of proceedings and that was untrue.

Thomson opted to represent herself in court and claimed that there had been a ’miscommunication’ and that she thought the charge had been dismissed.

She also claimed she had been told that if she was to leave the island the prosecution would review the charge.

However, prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that he had spoken to Thomson on the phone on December 11 and told her she had to come to court.

Mr Swain said that he had told Thomson that the Crown would review the case if she was to leave the island after she had told him she had ’opportunities’ in Poland and may be leaving.

However, she had then said due to a lack of resources she had been unable to leave.

Mr Swain said that he had also called Tromode House on the day of the trial where Thomson was living but had received no response.

Mr Swain said that there would also be an application for an exclusion order.

Thomson asked the court to re-open the case and for the court to reconsider the guilty verdict.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said that she would adjourn the case until December 30 and arrange for magistrates who delivered the guilty verdict to be sitting on that day.

Bail was granted with a condition to live at Tromode House.