A Ramsey man who tried to send drugs money to the UK by telling post office staff the parcel contained a toy has been jailed for seven years.

Scott Carbutt, 41, was brought to the attention of the police after the post office staff became suspicious when he insured the package for £1,000 before delivering it.

The parcel, which had his home in Waterloo Road, Ramsey, as the return address on it, was found to contain £700 in English bank notes wrapped up in a Lego box.

Douglas Courthouse heard he was later caught trying to hide more than £8,000 of heroin inside himself when police arrested him in November 2021.

The court heard that at the time of his arrest, Carbutt said that the heroin was for personal use.

Carbutt claimed that the parcel sent to Liverpool was a present.

A search of Carbutt’s home uncovered £4,925 stashed in a silver case in the spare room, and a further £190 in his wallet.

He initially claimed he had saved the cash from benefits and his work as a plasterer.

Deemester Graeme Cook said: ‘In my experience of dealing with heroin, it is the worst class A drug around.

‘It causes misery for those who take it and users crave it.’

The court heard that while he was on bail for those offences, Carbutt attacked a man with a baseball bat on June 17, 2022, on Ramsey promenade.

He pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, money laundering, possession of an offensive weapon, namely a knife, and wounding with intent.

Carbett’s defence advocate, James Peterson told the court that his dealing was to fund his own personal heroin habit.

He said: ‘He’ll waste much of his life in prison and he wants to get out of the situation he’s found himself in when he gets out of prison.

‘He is regretful and it is genuine regret. This is not a life he wants to be stuck in forevermore and he wants to turn it around.’

Mr Peterson told the court that Carbutt is a ‘grafter when he is in work’ and has been working in the prison, with a testimony from a prison employee saying, ‘when he works, he works hard’.

The knife that Carbutt had in his possession was not used in the attack but fell off his person when he was arrested.

Mr Peterson called the attack an act of ‘absolute drunken stupidity’.

Both charges came to a total of seven years imprisonment.

Dawn Neeson, also of Waterloo Road, Ramsey, was also imprisoned for her part in the baseball bat attack, a crime which earned her two-and-a-half years behind bars.

Neeson, 47, had previously pleaded guilty to wounding with intent.

Neeson’s defence advocate, Stephen Wood, said: ‘My submission is that Ms Neeson’s history means that the public don’t need to be protected for a longer time.’

The reason for the attack was an unfounded allegation which led to a disagreement between the pair and the victim.

Deemster Cook said: ‘You should not, under any circumstances, take matters into your own hands.

The court heard that a witness saw two men fighting, called the police and upon the arrival of law enforcement, Carbett and Neeson became aggressive towards the police.

Prosecuting advocate Rachel Braidwood said: ‘This incident could have been far worse, the injuries were relatively minor.

‘The defendants should think themselves very fortunate that this was not worse.’