A mephedrone and cocaine addict who accused a worker at the Isle of Man branch of B&Q of being one of the killers of James Bulger has avoided an immediate custodial sentence.

Nineteen-year-old Wayne Vincent Dale, of Murrays Road in Douglas, was handed a three-month jail term, suspended for two years, after admitting a charge of provoking behaviour.

The court heard that in October 2009 Dale posted a message on a Facebook group alleging the killers of James Bulger had been moved to the Isle of Man.

He also said a man he used to work with was one of them, namely Robert Thompson. 

Deputy High Baillif Alastair Montgomerie said that given the emotions surrounding the killing of James Bulger, it was the most serious allegation Dale could have made.  

He said the fact he named the man and gave details of his workplace had put an innocent person in a very perilous situation.

The court heard Dale spent three months in prison earlier this year for driving offences and in the past had been in juvenile detention.

On a separate charge of stealing over $1,000 from his housemate, days before her Christmas holiday, Dale was sentenced to one month, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to pay back the full amount he had taken.

James Bulger was a two-year-old child from Kirby on Merseyside, who was abducted and murdered by two ten-year-old boys in February 1993.

His killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, were given new identities when they were released from custody in 2001.

Strict rules laid down by the courts in the United Kingdom protect Thompson and Venables from being identified.