Residents 'feel let down' by police communication

Concerns raised at public meeting held at Dhoon Church Hall

Report from BBC Isle of Man

Concerns have been raised about how the police kept the public informed about an unfolding situation in which a person was left badly injured on a beach.

The "serious incident" at Cornaa at about 4pm on Monday followed earlier appeals by the Isle of Man Constabulary about a man missing from home.

Insp Wendy Barker said there was no suggestion of a danger to the public when a "high-risk missing person inquiry" was launched at the weekend, but that had "changed to something else" on Monday afternoon.

Questioning why the possible threat had not been communicated to residents sooner, one said: "I think everybody just feels a bit let down in general that we weren't better informed."

Police previously said they had been called to a report of a serious incident on the beach in Maughold on Monday afternoon.

Armed officers were also called to a second alleged assault nearby where they arrested a man.

Following the first incident, police put out a warning to people in the Ramsey, Laxey and Maughold areas to close their windows and lock their doors.

A 'community evening' was held last night to 'give residents and those affected by the incident, some reassurance and support'.

The meeting on Tuesday evening at Dhoon Church Hall was organised by the Northern Neighbourhood Policing Team (NNPT).

NNPT head Insp Barker said the aim was to reassure residents and listen to their concerns.

Insp Wendy Barker addresses residents at the start of the meeting and answered their questions

Residents raised concerns because people had originally been encouraged to check their sheds or outbuildings for the missing person.

It was also pointed out that a group of people had been out on a guided walk in a nearby glen on Sunday afternoon.

One resident suggested officers could have door knocked in the area to warn people of any potential threat if there was any information known to the force and it "might not want to put that communication on social media for the entire island".

Another added: "Somebody's been seriously injured and taken to hospital so the strategy that you employed didn't work, did it?"

Insp Barker said when the appeals were put out it was categorised as a "high-risk missing person inquiry" and there had been "absolutely no evidence to suggest that this person was going to be violent to anybody else other than to themselves".

"The information came in as a missing person on the Sunday and it changed to something else on the Monday," she told residents.

"I can absolutely categorically say that there is nobody in this police force here that would deliberately put something out to endanger any member of the public on this island - that is just not a thing that would ever happen."

Police said a person had been seriously injured on Cornaa Beach on Monday

Insp Barker said officers had put the meeting "together very quickly" because "we were very concerned about how everybody would be after something like this and we wanted to bring you all together to try and give you some reassurance that we are here to support".

The inspector also assured those at the meeting that there was "no specific reason why" the incident had taken place where it had.