Honey, I’m here...! Moment jet ski Covidiot arrived af ter crossing Irish Sea to meet love
Jailed Scot branded ‘dangerous’ for 4½hr trip that broke virus rules
THIS is the moment a lovesick Scot arrived on the Isle of Man after crossing the Irish Sea on a jet ski – breaching Covid rules.
Dale McLaughlan, 28, took fourand-a-half hours to travel from Scotland, before walking 15 miles to his girlfriend’s home during lockdown.
The roofer, from Irvine, Ayrshire, was jailed for four weeks for breaching the island’s strict coronavirus restrictions.
Isle of Man Chief Minister Howard Quayle last night accused McLaughlan of a ‘reckless and dangerous endeavour’ which ‘put lives at risk’.
Pictures taken on Friday by local resident Noel Corlett show McLaughlan, who had never operated a jet ski before, arriving at Ramsey Harbour with only minutes of fuel remaining.
Yesterday Mr Corlett, 74, who had been photographing swans at the time, said: ‘I thought it was a bit off but I assumed it was a local riding in on a jet ski.
‘I took a few frames just for fun and didn’t think any more about it until I saw the court case in the news.’
McLaughlan admitted arriving unlawfully, breaching Covid-19 laws that state non-residents can only enter if they are given special permission.
His girlfriend Jessica Radcliffe, who has two school-age daughters, will now have to spend Christmas in quarantine. Her mother, Jane, told the Mail: ‘She’s in isolation at home so nobody can visit her for the next fortnight. She can’t go out and can’t have visitors.’
McLaughlan, who has two young children, told Douglas Courthouse on Monday that he initially thought his trip would take 40 minutes.
After arriving, he walked 15 miles to surprise Miss Radcliffe and the pair went for a night out in Douglas.
Under the Isle of Man’s emergency coronavirus laws, anyone breaching the rules faces a maximum of three months behind bars or a fine of up to £10,000.
McLaughlan was said to have previously been given permission to work as a roofer on the island for a four-week period in September.
The court was told that his subsequent applications to return were rejected.
Prosecutors said that McLaughlan set off on the 25-mile trip from the Isle of Whithorn, Wigtownshire, around 8.30am on Friday.
Following his arrival in Ramsey around 1pm, he walked 15 miles to his girlfriend’s home in Douglas.
The court was told she believed he had been working elsewhere on the island for several weeks. The following afternoon, he provided a police officer with her address as his own. Later that evening, they went to two busy nightclubs.
Police arrested him on Sunday evening after conducting identification checks.
In mitigation, McLaughlan’s advocate told the court that his client suffered from depression and was not coping with being unable to see his partner.
Deputy High Bailiff Christopher Arrowsmith said the Scot made a ‘deliberate and intentional attempt to circumnavigate’ the border restrictions, potentially putting the community at risk.
The court heard that the pair had met in September when McLaughlan was working on the Isle of Man. According to social media, they became romantically involved the following month.
Under Isle of Man laws, anyone serving a prison sentence of less than four years
‘Incredibly reckless endeavour’
is released after half that term. But McLaughlan is set to spend Christmas inside a prison cell on the island.
Mr Quayle, who heads the Isle of Man Government, said the prison sentence ‘sends a strong signal’ to anyone else who might consider showing such ‘flagrant disregard’ for the law.
He told the BBC that he was ‘ astonished’ by the ‘ incredibly reckless, dangerous endeavour’ of McLaughlan, which could have led to ‘ others being called upon to risk their lives in a search and rescue operation’.
A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: ‘Jet skis fall outside of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s licensing powers and abilities to detain or prosecute.
‘However, as a general rule, we advise people using jet skis to always operate your vessel within the limits of your, and your vessel’s, capabilities.’