A man has been fined £400 after a Boxing Day barney with his brother led to him being arrested.

Ian Alan Johnson struggled with police and was eventually restrained using Pava spray.

The 55-year-old's family festivities ended with him spending a night in a police cell.

In court, Johnson admitted an offence of resisting arrest, while a second charge, of common assault, was withdrawn by the prosecution.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that an incident occurred on December 26 between Johnson and his brother, during a family gathering at Sea Cliff Road in Onchan, where the defendant lives.

Police arrived and described Johnson as slurring his words and unsteady on his feet.

He resisted police, struggling with them, and was put on the ground.

Johnson tensed his arms and kicked his legs out which resulted in him being restrained with Pava spray.

He was later interviewed at police headquarters and admitted there had been an altercation with his brother.

Mr Swain said that the defendant’s brother had retracted his complaint which was why the common assault charge had been withdrawn.

The court heard that Johnson’s last conviction was in 2008.

Defence advocate Peter Russell said: ‘It was a very unfortunate set of circumstances.  A case of the Boxing Day blues.

‘Two brothers with their respective partners, celebrating Christmas with everything going wonderfully well.

‘Alcohol was consumed, sibling rivalries surfaced and matters got out of hand.’

Mr Russell asked magistrates to deal with the offence by way of a financial penalty, and said that his client had spent a night in the police cells in addition to being Pava sprayed.

‘We would ask the court to treat this as a blip, something of a one-off, and something that won’t be repeated in the future,’ said the advocate.

Magistrates also ordered Johnson to pay £125 prosecution costs and gave him three months to pay.