A man mistakenly held on remand in the island’s jail for six weeks after a drug test error has said he aims to sue Manx police.
We reported in the Examiner on September 13 how Stephen James Parkhill was originally charged with possessing a class A drug and denied bail three times.
But six weeks after his arrest forensic test results on the drug proved it to be class C and the charge had to be amended.
Parkhill, 27, whose address was given in court as Garden City, Flintshire, was arrested on the Manannan Steam Packet vessel on July 25 and found to have 40 tablets in his bag.
The tablets were eventually identified as steroids and magistrates sentenced Parkhill to an absolute discharge, the lowest-level adult sentence that an offender can get.
Parkhill’s advocate Peter Taylor said in court: ‘Why has a man been deprived of his liberty for six weeks? The police have been incredibly negligent.’
A police statement said: ‘There are now some internal enquiries in hand, which will hopefully identify the reasons behind the difference in the initial tests and the final laboratory confirmation.
‘Once we know the outcome we will be liaising with the courts, and reviewing any procedural elements that require it.’
Since leaving the island, Parkhill, whose address is now Kirkby, Liverpool, has spoken to the Liverpool Echo about his time on remand.
He said: ‘They didn’t even let me go to be a coffin bearer for my nan and I missed her funeral. My kid’s mum also ran off with my best friend and I’ve been homeless since I got out. My nan has been putting me up. I told them from the beginning that they were steroids and they were only for use by me.
‘After all this it has made me scared to go out in public places – I am not comfortable with it.
‘I am putting a claim in against the police that it was unlawful detention and false imprisonment.
‘They have been saying they are sorry but they’re trying to shift the blame that it could have either been the testing kit’s fault or the tester’s fault.
‘If I had been charged with this in the first place (class C drug possession), my solicitor says I could have got community service or a fine at the very most.’