The Isle of Man Constabulary has defended its handling of communications in the build-up to a series of serious incidents in the Maughold area.

It comes after residents questioned the timing of public warnings issued before a man allegedly assaulted two people at Port Cornaa.

At a community information meeting held on Tuesday evening at Dhoon Church Hall, members of the Northern Neighbourhood Policing Team faced a packed room of concerned residents seeking answers about why the public was not warned earlier that the man could pose a danger.

The meeting followed a major police operation that began on Sunday, when officers and Coastguard volunteers launched a large-scale search for a missing teenager described as a ‘high-risk vulnerable person’.

By Monday afternoon, the situation had escalated when police received a 999 call reporting a serious assault at Cornaa beach shortly before 4pm.

At that time, police encouraged the public to not approach the man.

Armed officers attended the scene, and one victim was later airlifted to the UK with serious injuries.

A second local man was also assaulted nearby and had his quad bike stolen, though he did not require hospital treatment.

A man from Douglas was arrested shortly afterwards and remains in custody as police continue their investigation.

Cornaa beach remained cordoned off on Tuesday as inquiries continued.

During the meeting, several residents questioned why the Constabulary had not issued a public safety warning earlier, given the suspect had been reported missing a day before the assault.

Many said they felt police should have alerted the community sooner that the man could pose a threat.

Inspector Wendy Barker, who leads neighbourhood policing across the north of the island, explained that the initial information received on Sunday suggested the missing person was a risk to himself rather than others.

‘When that media release was put out, there was absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that this person was violent other than to himself - nothing,’ Inspector Barker said.

‘Everything was checked with partner agencies, with past records, with medical records, with all sorts of information that we have agreements to share. And at that moment in time, when that release went out, there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that this person was going to be violent to anybody else.’

She added that officers had to make their assessment based on the information available at the time.

‘Up until that point, nothing else had happened. There’d been no other violence reported to anybody else. This was the first sort of turn in that inquiry, if you like,’ she said.

Sergeant Chris Beaumont, who also spoke at the meeting, addressed questions about why police did not warn the public earlier despite knowing the missing man was carrying a knife.

‘We’ve got to look at what is the intention that person has with that weapon,’ he said. ‘Is it to harm themselves? Is it to harm people? Is it simply to carry it from A to B? We were to believe that he was going to go harm himself, and we were to tell everyone to stay away from him - we’re not going to be able to keep him safe our way at that point.’

Some residents also expressed concern that there was no police presence at Dhoon Primary School on Monday morning, despite the ongoing search.

Inspector Barker said she understood those concerns but stressed that ‘everything was risk assessed’ as the situation developed hour by hour.

The Constabulary said there will continue to be an increased police presence in the Maughold area as officers gather evidence and speak to witnesses. It reiterated that there is ‘no ongoing threat to the public.’