A 36-year-old Douglas man has been fined £160 for having no vehicle tax.

Jason Lee McGowan, who lives at Berry Woods Grove, did not attend court but sent a postal admission to the offence.

He was also ordered by magistrates to pay £50 prosecution costs.

The court heard that police were on patrol at Ashley Park in Onchan on December 30 when they received a report of an abandoned vehicle there.

They found McGowan’s Citroen Dispatch parked with a vehicle licence which had expired in July 2022.

The van was said to have since been scrapped.

In written mitigation sent to the court, McGowan said that he had been getting the Citroen fixed before putting it in for a test, but the mechanic had driven it without his consent and it had broken down.

Magistrates gave him two months to pay the fine and costs.