A man who admitted being in charge of a vehicle while he was under the influence of cannabis has been fined £750.

Jamie Shanahan also had his licence endorsed with 10 penalty points by High Bailiff Jayne Hughes.

The 29-year-old also admitted possessing cannabis and was fined an additional £200.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that police were on patrol at Battery Pier in Douglas on April 13 at 10.40pm.

They saw Shanahan sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked Ford Focus.

When they spoke to him, there was said to be a smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle.

A drug wipe test proved positive for the class B drug and Shanahan was subsequently arrested and taken to police headquarters.

Once there, a blood sample was taken which later produced a result of 5.3. The legal limit for cannabis is two.

A search of the Ford Focus found 4.2 grams of the drug, valued by police at £84.

During a police interview, Shanahan, who lives at Peel Road in Douglas, handed in a prepared statement admitting possessing the cannabis.

The court heard that he has no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Paul Glover handed in letters of reference for his client and asked for credit to be given for his guilty pleas, and lack of previous convictions.

Mr Glover said that it was a relatively small amount of cannabis.

The advocate asked the court to spare Shanahan a ban as his job involved driving, and his family commitments also required a lot of driving.

Shanahan offered to pay any fine and costs within one month.

High Bailiff Mrs Hughes said that she had taken into account that it was not a charge of driving while under the influence of drugs, only being in charge of the vehicle.