Craig Carrol, a 40-year-old businessman from Harcroft Meadow in Douglas, was jailed for four years at the Court of General Gaol Delivery.[1] Deemster Graeme Cook imposed the term on the afternoon of 1 June 2022, with the BBC and Isle of Man Today reporting the hearing that day.[1] In court, Carrol pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and two counts of making articles for use in fraud, Isle of Man Today reported.[2] The BBC reported that his defence advocate said he had panicked after learning his previous convictions could block the application and had only used “Tipp-Ex and a photocopier” to alter the documents.[3]

In July 2021 he submitted the application forms and a business plan to the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), which processes the island’s medicinal cannabis licences, through a company called Cannamann that listed him as a director and his partner as the sole shareholder.[3] Commission staff found the copy of his passport had been altered to change his middle name and date of birth, and that bank statements showing balances of £42,000 to £54,000 covered an account actually holding between £2 and £102.[3] The application was halted and the police were called, and Carrol was arrested on 7 September 2021.[4] In August 2021, before the alteration was discovered, Carrol had returned to the commission’s office and signed a document confirming that all the information he had supplied was true.[3] The investigation also found he had changed his electoral register details to an address in Ramsey where he did not live to hide his true identity, and forged his partner’s signature on the application.[3] Isle of Man Today reported that the Ramsey address belonged to a woman who had done part-time accountancy work for him and knew nothing of the application, and that police raided her house.[2] Isle of Man Today reported that his partner was also initially arrested and released without charge because she had no knowledge of the application.[2]

The BBC reported that prosecutors argued it was a sophisticated and sustained fraud.[3] Isle of Man Today reported that Carrol told police he changed the documents to cover up previous convictions in Scotland that would have made him ineligible for a licence.[2] The BBC reported that the court heard his 2021 business plan indicated profits of £2.2m for the venture.[3] Isle of Man Today reported that the business plan estimated the venture would make £22 million over three years and that bank statements claiming a £2 million credit balance were untrue.[2]

Deemster Cook said the potential embarrassment and public perceptions could only damage the industry the government was trying to create, and that a deterrent was necessary.[2] The BBC reported the deemster saying he was handing down a “deterrent sentence” so that nobody else would attempt to falsify licence applications in the future.[3] Manx Radio republished the BBC’s account of the sentencing under a report credited to BBC Isle of Man, rather than adding a separate account of its own.[5]