Ethan Sayle, 22, was sentenced at Douglas Courthouse for cannabis he had kept in a hotel room on the Isle of Man.[1] He received a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years.[1] Deemster Graeme Cook said he had been “very foolish”.[1] The deemster, the Isle of Man’s judge, said he saw “good reason” to suspend the sentence because Sayle was young, had a job and was drug-free.[1] Sayle pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of ketamine, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.[1] Sayle, of Clifton Terrace in Douglas, was also ordered to pay £500 in court costs.[1]
Police stopped him at about 01:00 on 12 May 2023 as he drove a black BMW on Peel Road because of a faulty light.[1] He was arrested when officers found £25 of ketamine and the hotel room key in his car.[1] Officers found two wraps of white powder in the vehicle along with the key to the room he had been staying in at the Palace Hotel in Douglas.[1] Hotel management searched the room and found drug paraphernalia and £4,364 worth of cannabis.[1] The court heard the cannabis found in the room was worth £4,364.[1]
Sayle was stopped again in September 2024 after officers detected a smell of cannabis in his car.[1] No drugs were found in the vehicle, and he was arrested for driving while disqualified and driving without insurance after being banned from the roads in November 2023.[1] His defence advocate told the court Sayle was now “drug-free” and that his “chaotic lifestyle has stopped”.[1]