A joiner who crashed his car on Douglas promenade and abandoned it has been fined £750.

Marc Thomas Duncan hid at the Nunnery after leaving the Ford Focus but left his mobile phone in the car.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also endorsed the 35-year-old’s licence with six penalty points.

We previously reported that police were called to outside Bordello on Loch Promenade on November 25 at 2.30am after a report of a car accident.

Duncan’s vehicle had mounted a central reservation and caused significant damage to a planter box and a sign.

The planter box had moved around 20 metres and the Ford Focus’s airbags had been deployed.

When officers arrived they found the car unattended and a search of the area could not find the driver.

However, police found a mobile phone in the footwell of the car which was traced to Duncan.

Duncan, who lives at Ballaughton Lane in Douglas, attended a voluntary interview at police headquarters on November 30 where he admitted he had been driving.

He claimed that his recollection of the incident was unclear, but he said he had panicked after crashing, so he had left and hid at the Nunnery for a few hours, before making his way home.

Duncan said he had been experiencing mental health issues so he had gone for a drive, but could provide no explanation for the accident, saying it must have been a lapse in concentration.

In court, he pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to report an accident, and failing to stop after an accident.

The court heard that he has a previous similar conviction, but some time ago.

Duncan initially sent a postal admission to the offences but this was not acceptable as the maximum penalty for two of the offences is nine months in custody, and postal admissions may only be submitted for offences up to six months in custody.

A probation report said that Duncan was a joiner who had been off work until recently due to ill health.

The report said that community service would not be suitable, bearing in mind he had only recently returned to work, and recommended a financial penalty as the most appropriate sentence.

Defence advocate Kate Alexander asked for credit to be given for her client’s guilty pleas and admissions to police.

The advocate agreed that community service may be putting too much on Duncan with him having only just gone back to work.

High Bailiff Mrs Hughes said that she had taken into account that Duncan had been suffering from mental health issues at the time of the offences.

She fined him £350 for the careless driving and £400 for failing to stop, with no separate penalty made for the failing to report offence.

He must also pay £50 prosecution costs, which he will pay, along with the fine, at a rate of £25 per week.