A man who burgled the Douglas pub he used to work at has been jailed for six months.

James Simon Paul Webb let himself into O’Donnell’s in Castle Street using a set of keys he had and helped himself to £5,000 from the safe.

The 28-year-old then went on a shopping spree, spending £1,000 of it, but claimed he put the rest of the cash down a drain after he panicked.

Prosecuting advocate Rachael Braidwood told the court how police were informed of the burglary by the pub on July 18. After investigations, Webb was seen on CCTV footage leaving his address at Clarence Terrace on Douglas promenade on July 18 at 2.45am, carrying a backpack. He crossed over to the sea side of the promenade as he walked along and was then seen in Granville Street with his hood up.

CCTV footage at O’Donnell’s showed him entering using a key and then going behind the bar. He took some gloves from a box and put them on.

Webb then went to the office, which was not covered by the CCTV, before leaving the pub via the back door and going back onto the promenade.

He went onto the sea side again and was then seen arriving back at his home at 3.20am, but wearing different clothing. Police later found his hooded top on the beach with the pub keys and the gloves in the pockets.

He was arrested and a search of his home found 5.7 grams of cannabis, valued by police at £114. The search also found several receipts for purchases at various shops made after the burglary.

Distinctive trainers which had been worn during the burglary were also found. During an interview, Webb answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

In court he pleaded guilty to burglary and possessing cannabis.

Another incident occurred on August 24, after Webb found out that his girlfriend had been seeing someone else. Webb named the man and posted on Facebook: ‘Anyone know him? Tell him I’m coming for him. I’ve nothing to lose now.’

He then later posted an additional comment on the post saying: ‘ I’m going to bury him on Douglas beach.’

The comments were reported to police and Webb was again arrested and said: ‘I know what this is about, it was just a drunken Facebook post.’

When interviewed about it, he handed in a prepared statement saying he had no recollection of writing the posts but accepted he had done so. He said he had no intention of carrying out the threats.

In court, he pleaded guilty to sending an offensive or menacing message.

Defence advocate Deborah Myerscough referred to a psychiatric report, which she said highlighted several matters which she did not want to go into in open court. Ms Myerscough said that the offences had coincided with a significant downturn in Webb’s mental health, and that he was at risk of relapsing into substance abuse if he went to prison.

The advocate asked the court to follow the recommendation of a probation report, for a combination order as the most appropriate sentence.

Deputy High Bailiff James Brooks said that planning had gone into the burglary offence and that he found Webb’s explanation for the missing £4,000 as ‘farcical’.

‘If you had panicked or had second thoughts, you could have returned the cash to the employer,’ said Mr Brooks.

Mr Brooks sentenced Webb to six months custody for the burglary, and one month for the messages, to run concurrently.

He was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to O’Donnell’s, which will start paying after his release from prison, at a rate of £10 per week.