A motorist who refused to take a breathalyser test has been banned from driving for five years and put on probation.

Jonathan Lennon Taylor also admitted being found drunk in a public place and failing to change a vehicle ownership.

The 45-year-old was already subject to a previous 12 month probation order, imposed in September.

Acting Deputy High Bailiff Graeme Cook revoked that order and replaced it with a new 18 month one for all offences.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that the latest offences were committed on January 21, when the duty manager at the Palace Hotel called the police at 11.28am.

They reported that a resident had returned in his vehicle and was smelling of alcohol.

Officers arrived and Taylor took a breathalyser test at the scene, which he failed.

He was also not the registered owner of the car.

He was subsequently arrested and taken to police headquarters, where he gave an initial sample of breath, but then refused to continue with the procedure and give a second sample, which is required.

During an interview, Taylor said that he had drunk about eight cans the night before, and had then driven into town the following morning.

He told police he had bought the car via Facebook, for £750, but couldn’t remember who sold it to him, though he added that they had cut the log book in half and kept half each.

On January 22, police received a report of a man asleep at a bus stop on Woodbourne Road in Douglas.

When officers attended, they found Taylor with empty cans around him.

He initially gave them false details and wouldn’t give his address.

Taylor, who lives at Ballafletcher Road in Douglas, was previously sentenced to probation in September, after he was arrested twice in 24 hours, for being drunk and disorderly, and being drunk in a public place.

He was also given a six month licensing ban for those offences.

A probation report said that the offences for which Taylor was now being sentenced, pre-dated the ones which he had been given probation for in September.

The report said that he had been in a desperate situation, with periods of homelessness, and had at times been living in a tent.

The probation officer said that they had managed to find Taylor a temporary place at a hostel in Douglas for two weeks, while further accommodation was sought.

The report said that the defendant had always worked up until January, but had been suffering with mental health issues, and was now working with the drug and alcohol team, as well as probation services.

Defence advocate Paul Glover said: ‘The most important thing is he engages with probation.’

Mr Glover said that his client had a job as a delivery driver but would lose that with the mandatory driving ban.

No order for prosecution costs was made.