A man who stole a van but was chased and caught by the owner has been put on probation for 18 months.

Christopher James Christian got out of the vehicle and ran off after being seen but then fell through a hedge and was pinned down by the have-a-go hero.

He initially pleaded not guilty to taking a vehicle without consent, driving while disqualified, and having no insurance, with a trial set to take place on March 17, but on Thursday he changed his pleas to guilty.

Magistrates also banned the 36-year-old, who was already disqualified from driving, for 12 months.

We previously reported that the complainant in the case was driving home on August 25 at 10.20pm on the New Castletown Road last year in another vehicle when he saw his Mercedes van being driven in the opposite direction with two males in it.

They stopped at traffic lights and the man pulled his car in front of the two men so they were nose to nose.

The passenger, who was not identified, ran off as the man went round to the driver’s door and Christian, who was in the driver’s seat, climbed out through the passenger side and also ran.

The man chased Christian onto Groves Road, then onto Springfield Road where he fell through a hedge and was pinned down by the man until police arrived.

Christian, who lives at Sumark Croft in Douglas, was then said to have become unresponsive and was taken to accident and emergency, but was later discharged and arrested.

When interviewed by police he handed in a prepared statement denying that he was the driver.

He then answered ’no comment’ to all other questions.

A probation report said that, at the time of the offence, Christian was going through a difficult time personally and was struggling with his mental health.

He said that he had fallen back into old habits, which involved alcohol use and could remember very little of what happened.

The report said that Christian had a significant history of offending but that this had slowed down and decreased in seriousness in recent years.

He was said to be working with the Drug and Alcohol Team (DAT).

Defence advocate Deborah Myerscough said that her client had not been in any trouble for a significant time bearing in mind his history, and had been on bail since August without further incidents.

Magistrates also ordered him to pay £125 prosecution costs at a rate of £5 per week.