A 24-year-old man who smashed four shop windows in Strand Street has been sentenced to 200 hours’ community service.
Ben David Moss, of Reginald Mews, admitted causing £4,410.44 worth of damage during the drunken rampage.
Prosecutor Hazel Carroon told the court how, on January 11, police received a report from the Spar shop in Strand Street that someone had damaged their front window.
When officers attended they received a number of other reports from Superdrug, Clinton’s Cards and the former site of Jessops, that their windows had been broken too.
CCTV footage was viewed by police which showed a man making his way down Strand Street at around 12.30am.
He was kicking doors and windows as he went, crossing from one side of the street to the other.
When he reached Spar shop he picked up an orange traffic cone and threw it at the window.
The footage then showed the man go to the Isle of Man Bank cash machine before getting into a taxi.
Moss was identified and police searched his home, finding a dark hooded top and grey trousers similar to ones worn by the man in the footage.
Bank transactions were also analysed and showed that it was Moss’s card that had been used to withdraw cash at 12.30am at the Strand Street machine.
Moss was shown the CCTV footage by police during an interview but said it was not him in the video and that he had no knowledge of the broken windows.
He was then told about the bank transaction information and asked for the interview to be stopped.
Moss pleaded guilty in court to four charges of destroying property.
Defending him in court advocate David Reynolds said: ‘On that date he had had difficulties with his partner and found that she was pregnant. They had decided to give each other space to think about the future. He went out to Quids Inn to try to forget about what was going on.
‘He was very boisterous, it was out of character. He was very shocked when he saw the CCTV. He wasn’t intent on causing damage but accepts he was reckless.
‘He wants to compensate the owners.’
Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said: ‘It wasn’t boisterous it was appalling. Your behaviour was shocking. It must have been shocking for the shopkeepers who came to work the next morning and had to clean up. It was drunken disorderly behaviour on a spectacular scale in terms of the Isle of Man.’
Moss caused £2,026.80 worth of damage to Clinton’s Cards, £409.19 to Superdrug, £1,800.45 to Spar and £174 to Jessops.