A Baldrine man who was accused of making a false statement on his election nomination paper has been acquitted.

Fifty-eight-year-old Nigel Dobson, who stood unsuccessfully in the constituency of Garff in last September's general election, denied the charge.

It related to the fact that on his nomination paper he did not make reference to a previous drink-driving conviction.

However, the court heard Mr Dobson would have had nothing to gain by not disclosing the information, since it had already been in the public domain, on both the radio and in the newspapers.

Dismissing the case, magistrates accepted Mr Dobson had not withheld the information knowingly, and agreed he should be awarded costs.

Afterwards Mr Dobson told Manx Radio he was relieved, but not surprised by the outcome: