Questions have been raised over whether offenders caught supplying drugs with very low purity levels should receive reduced sentences.

Manx law allows sentences to be increased when drugs have a high purity, such as 80%.

But at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Friday, David Heath Fahey was sentenced after being caught with four packages weighing just over a kilogram.

Two contained cocaine with a purity of just 2%, while the other two contained small amounts of the drug, although no percentage was specified.

Deemster Graeme Cook questioned whether he could apply the reverse of a sentencing uplift because of the drugs' unusually low purity.

However, Fahey's advocate, Ian Kermode, acknowledged there was no legislation or case law specifically allowing such a reduction, although he argued purity could be considered in mitigation.

Prosecutor Hazel Carroon told the court Fahey, 58, was travelling to the Isle of Man from Heysham when police stopped his Mercedes.

He claimed he was visiting the island to buy a boat, but officers became suspicious.

A sniffer dog alerted officers to the spare tyre in the boot. An X-ray revealed four packages concealed inside.

The court heard that the unusually low cocaine purity was a significant factor in sentencing, with the Deemster considering whether it justified a reduction from the usual starting point.

Two packages tested on the island contained small amounts of cocaine, while laboratory tests in the UK found the remaining two had a purity of just 2%.

Following his arrest, Fahey, of Gothic Close, Stockport, maintained he knew nothing about the drugs and was visiting to buy a boat.

Records showed he had travelled to and from the island 11 times during the previous year.

He later admitted producing cocaine to the island and possessing the Class A drug with intent to supply.

Fahey said he had been offered £1,000 to transport a package to the island, believing it contained cannabis.

In mitigation, Mr Kermode said: ‘My client is a very hardworking family man and a HGV driver. But he was off work and struggling financially.’

Fahey's 17-year-old son wrote to the court, describing the prospect of his father going to prison as ‘incredibly frightening’ and saying he would ‘face a great deal of uncertainty’.

Mr Kermode added: ‘My client is genuinely contrite. It has scarred him for life and has been a source of deep shame.’

Deemster Cook told Fahey: ‘This is a more difficult case than it ordinarily is. The starting point for such a weight of cocaine would be 14 years but I do take into account the low purity.’

The Deemster also considered the impact on Fahey's son, his lack of previous convictions and his guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity.

Fahey was jailed for six years for producing cocaine and received a concurrent six-year sentence for possession with intent to supply.

He was also made subject to a five-year exclusion order, banning him from the island following his release from prison.