Man found with £4k of cannabis in hotel room

22-year-old handed suspended sentence

Report by BBC Isle of Man:

A man caught with more than £4,000 worth of cannabis stashed in his hotel room has been sentenced.

Ethan Sayle, 22, was arrested when police found £25 of ketamine and the room key in his car when he was stopped for having a faulty light on 12 May 2023.

Douglas Courthouse was told the cannabis was found by the management at the Palace Hotel when they searched the room.

Handing Sayle a 14-month sentence, suspended for two years, Deemster Graeme Cook said he had been "very foolish".

The court heard Sayle, of Clifton Terrace in Douglas, was stopped at about 1am while driving a black BMW on Peel Road.

Officers found two wraps of white powder in the vehicle along with the key to the room he had been staying in.

Drug paraphernalia along with £4,364 worth of cannabis were later found in the room.

The court was told Sayle was again stopped by police in September this year after officers detected a smell of cannabis in his car.

While no drugs were found in the vehicle he was arrested for driving while disqualified and having no insurance after being banned from the roads in November 2023.

Sayle pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply of cannabis, possession of ketamine, driving while disqualified and driving with no insurance.

His defence advocate told the court that Sayle was now "drug-free" and his "chaotic lifestyle has stopped".

Deemster Cook said he took the view there was "good reason" to suspend the sentence as he was young, was in employment and remained drug free.

Sayle was also ordered to pay £500 in court costs.