A Liverpool man has been banned from returning to the island for five years after trying to smuggle criminal cash totalling £3,270 off the island.

Louis Anthony Moran, 23, also pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis, after being arrested at the Sea Terminal on September 29.

He appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery for sentencing on Friday.

The court heard that Moran travelled to the island as a foot passenger from Liverpool on September 28. The next morning he was at the Sea Terminal at 8.30am, intending to board the ferry to Heysham.

Moran was stopped for a routine check and claimed he’d been visiting his aunt here, but when quizzed further, couldn’t say where she lived.

Officers became suspicious which resulted in him being detained for a drug search. A wrap containing 0.89 grams of cannabis was found worth £17.80. Officers also found an envelope concealed in his trouser leg, containing the £3,270.

Moran, who lives at Saint Alexander Close, said: ‘3k, wouldn’t go to jail for three grand would you?’

A previous hearing heard that police suspected that drugs had been brought to the island after seizing Moran’s phone, but there had not been enough evidence for a further charge.

Defence advocate Helen Lobb said at the last hearing that any accusation regarding drugs could not be taken into account, as her client had not been charged with that.

Deemster Graeme Cook suggested he would hand Moran a probation order which Miss Lobb indicated her client would be happy with.

Deemster Cook described Moran’s actions in trying to remove the cash as ‘rather foolish’.

Moran was handed a six-month probation order for each offence to run concurrently and was also ordered to pay costs of £125. He was also handed a five-year exclusion order which means he cannot come back to the Isle of Man during that period.