A sex offender has been branded 'a danger to the public' after being jailed for committing an indecent act on a bus and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Deemster Graeme Cook expressed concern about how Thomas Hall, 33, had previously been dealt with in the lower courts, but said there was no alternative but to send him immediately into custody.

Hall, of Tromode House, Douglas, has a number of convictions for sexual and public order offences, many of which were committed on buses on the island. He also has a conviction for possessing indecent images.

He appeared at the Court of General Gaol Delivery on Wednesday for sentencing after admitting engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and breaching the SHPO.

Prosecutor Dara-Jayne Dodge told the court that at about 6.30pm on November 12 last year Hall boarded a bus at Lord Street in Douglas. A 15-year-old girl, who was wearing her school uniform, boarded shortly afterwards.

After a while, she noticed Hall in the reflection of the window moving his hand up and down in the crotch area. She described him as 'touching himself'.

The pair were not known to each other. CCTV footage later identified Hall and he was arrested a few weeks later. During police interview, he said he could not remember the incident but suggested he had probably been 'scratching or readjusting' himself.

Hall was jailed in November 2024 for two years and 10 months after indecently assaulting a 15-year-old schoolgirl. He had befriended the victim on Snapchat and lured her to his flat with promises of vapes and alcohol. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed banning him from contacting the victim or using Snapchat.

However, he breached the order again in November last year after police were told he had downloaded Snapchat. His phone was seized and officers found evidence that he had downloaded the app, made six calls and then deleted it.

Ms Dodge said police were unable to establish who the calls had been made to.

In mitigation, advocate Paul Glover said his client had stayed out of trouble in the months since the offences and was 'engaging with social services'.

Mr Glover said: 'The message has now well and truly sunk in, and he knows if he continues to act the way he has he will face custody.

'He has been banned from using public transport and is being managed well in the community. If he goes to prison he will go back to square one.'

But Deemster Cook said Hall remained a danger to the public.

He told Hall: 'You are a danger to the public, particularly young girls, and the public needs protection from you.

'There is no remorse or any personal mitigation.'

For breaching the SHPO, Hall was jailed for two years and given a concurrent six-month sentence for engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

He was also given a consecutive six-month sentence for breaching his licence. A fresh SHPO was imposed.