A man convicted of assaulting a police officer has lost his appeal against his 16-month jail term.

Jason Craig Quayle’s appeal was dismissed by the appeal court as being ’totally without merit’.

Quayle, 22, of Reayrt ny Chrink, Crosby, had pleaded guilty in the summary court to assaulting Sergeant Quentin De Backer at police headquarters in July 2020.

He deliberately head-butted Sergeant De Backer whilst drunk, making contact with the officer’s chin, causing swelling and discomfort.

Quayle also pleaded guilty to breaching a ban on entering licensed premises.

Magistrates sentenced him to four months’ custody and activated suspended sentences imposed by the court on November 7 last year.

Quayle had pleaded guilty on that date to eight separate offences committed on five occasions between May and September 2019 - two common assaults, theft from a vehicle, criminal damage, assault on police, possession of a controlled drug, disorderly behaviour and purchasing alcohol in breach of a court order.

Five of those eight offences were committed whilst on bail.

A sentence of 12 months’ custody was suspended for two years and Quayle was also made the subject of a supervision order for two years.

He appealed against his 16 month sentence on the grounds that it was excessive and it was unjust for the magistrates to activate in full the 12 months’ suspended sentence.

The appellant’s assault on police in July was his third such offence.

He had been sentenced to 12 weeks’ custody for an assault in 2016 and three months’ custody, suspended, for an assault in September last year.

He had also committed an assault in 2015 and on two occasions in May 2019, receiving sentences of 120 hours’ community service, three months’ custody (suspended) and three months’ custody consecutive (suspended).

He had committed public order offences in 2018 and August 2019 and received no separate penalties.

Quayle had resisted a police office in the execution of his duty in March and August 2018 and been sentenced to 10 weeks’ custody and 14 weeks’ custody respectively.

In a judgment, Judge of Appeal Jeremy Storey QC and Deemster Graeme Cook said they could not accept that a total sentence of 16 months was outside the norm of sentencing generally applied by the Isle of Man courts.

They said ’We dismiss the appellant’s appeal against sentence which was totally without merit.’

The judges said the appellant had made no attempt to contact the probation service as would be expected if he was truly keen to accept the support offered.