£600 fine for Douglas man who escaped from police

32-year-old was found hiding in bushes

A Douglas man who escaped from police for six minutes has been fined £600.

Thirty-two-year-old Carl Francis Kelch, of Clifton Terrace, appeared before Deputy High Bailiff James Brooks at Douglas Courthouse.

He pleaded guilty to a single charge of escaping lawful custody.

Police were called to his home shortly before 9am on 25 October following reports of a domestic disturbance.

Kelch was arrested as an officer tried to prevent a breach of the peace but wasn’t handcuffed as officers tried to calm the situation.

He ran off, pursed by police, and was discovered hiding in bushes in a sheltered housing complex at Ballanard Court minutes later.

Mr Brooks said Kelch was unlikely to have faced charges over the original incident but had made his own situation much worse by running off.

Kelch was fined £600 and ordered to pay £50 towards prosecution costs.