A money launderer caught trying to smuggle £24,760 in cash off the island on the ferry has avoided an immediate jail term.

Pawel Bartnicki, 30, was handed a 10-month sentence suspended for 12 months.

Deemster Graeme Cook also imposed an exclusion order, banning him from the island for a period of five years.

Bartnicki, of Cwmbran in South Wales, had pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property.

The Court of General Gaol Delivery heard that he was arrested at the Sea Terminal as he boarded the Steam Packet ferry in a BMW on February 8 this year.

Prosecuting advocate Sarah-Jayne Dodge told the court that Bartnicki was searched by customs officers, who found some of the cash on him.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to police headquarters for questioning.

Meanwhile, the BMW was searched, and a large amount of money was found in the rear passenger doors, in concealed panels and light sockets.

The total of the money found was £24,760.

During his police interview, Bartnicki gave no explanation for why he had the cash.

The court heard that he had no links to the Isle of Man and must have had some involvement in organised crime.