A serial burglar has admitted breaking into the IQ store on Prospect Hill in Douglas on Christmas Day.

Michael Daniel Bergquist smashed doors and tried to steal iPhones worth more than £40,000.

The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal and six counts of property damage.

He will be sentenced at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on February 10.

Prosecuting advocate Rachael Braidwood told the court that the offences had been committed on Christmas Day and involved a substantial burglary of a commercial premises.

Bergquist had accessed the store through the main double doors at the front of Victory House, then gone through another door to get into the IQ store itself.

Eleven iPhones were found in a corridor in the building while another 48 iPhones were found in a bin bag in the stairwell at the side of Victory House which is currently boarded up due to work taking place there.

Another seven iPhones have not been found.

Ms Braidwood said that the total value of all the phones was more than £40,000, although 59 of them had been recovered in a saleable condition.

In all, Bergquist, who lives at Lheannag Park in Douglas, had damaged five doors during the break in, as well as a glass cabinet.

He was represented in court by defence advocate Paul Rodgers.

Bergquist was jailed for 42 weeks in May 2021 after breaking into two businesses in a month.

One burglary took place at the same IQ store on December 6, 2020, while the other was committed at AutoMann in Elm Tree Road in Onchan between December 24 and 26, 2020.

In 2015, Bergquist was jailed for five-and-a-half years for robbing RHS Jewellers on Prospect Hill when he stole rings worth £25,000 after entering the store wearing a crash helmet and carrying a claw hammer.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said that, given his previous convictions, the value of the goods, and the damage caused, the latest offences should be committed to the higher court for sentencing.

No bail application was made and Bergquist is remanded in custody.