A 59-year-old Douglas man has been jailed for 11 and a half months for a spree of crimes.

David Michael Bardsley admitted nine offences committed in under eight months.

He appeared at Douglas Courthouse on Tuesday, November 5, and was sentenced to 22 weeks’ custody for the offences.

Bardsley, who lives at Mona Street, was already subject to a six month suspended sentence, imposed for domestic abuse, and Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood activated that in full, adding it to the 22 weeks.

He was also issued with a restraining order relating to his former partner until further notice.

The crime spree began on January 22, when Bardsley was arrested for drink-driving, after failing a breathalyser test with a reading of 95, more than twice the limit of 35.

On March 31, he was arrested for common assault on a female, after slapping his estranged wife, causing her glasses to come off.

On May 30 and June 8, Bardsley went on shoplifting sprees, stealing a £650 Apple watch from Manx Telecom, as well as items from Regatta, Asia’s Best Choice, the Co-op, and Dealz.

On August 11, he stole a bicycle, valued at £100.

And finally, also on August 11, he vandalised a car in Villiers Lane in Douglas, belonging to the co-owner of 1886 Bar and Grill.

In court, Bardsley pleaded guilty to drink-driving, common assault on a female, criminal damage, and six counts of theft.

The court heard that the defendant had a clean record until 2020, and Defence advocate Stephen Wood said that his offending seemed to have ‘dropped off a cliff’, with offence after offence.

The advocate said that his client had initially spent 32 days in custody, before being bailed, and had then been remanded again since August.

He added that Bardsley had been a talented chef with an Indian restaurant, and still had ambitions to get back into business.

Deputy High Bailiff Ms Braidwood said that the start of the defendant’s offending in 2020 appeared to have coincided with him losing his business.

Bardsley was sentenced to four weeks’ custody for drink-driving, eight weeks for common assault, four weeks for the theft from Manx Telecom, one week for the Co-op theft, two weeks for the theft from Regatta, two weeks for the bicycle theft, and one week for the criminal damage, all to run consecutively.

He was also sentenced to one week for each of the thefts from Asia’s Best Choice and Dealz, but to run concurrently to the other sentences.

The Deputy High Bailiff also banned him from driving for three years, with orders to take an extended test at the end of the ban and to complete a drink-driving rehabilitation course.