Isle of Man TT Fan Jailed in Island’s Only Prison After Disrupting Practice Session
What with the Isle of Man TT racing event being one of the most anticipated and well-known motorsport events ever, there will undoubtedly be many fans present at the race.
(Image taken from Yorkshire Post)
Unfortunately, among the fans, there is also bound to have a few bullheaded idiots who would do something stupid and unthinkingly disrupt the races.
James William Ford is one of them.
Hailing from Bingley, the British man was observed to be standing on a closed section of the road at Crosby on Monday evening while the riders were out practicing. Whether he was standing there to get a closer look or trying to get run over by speeding bikes, we will never know.
But because of his actions, the practice session had to be halted for safety reasons while the man was detained. As reported by The Yorkshire Post, Ford then pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing conduct of a race and failing to comply with requirements imposed by a marshal in front of the Isle of Man’s deputy high bailiff, Jayne Hughes, on Tuesday afternoon.
For his dangerous act, he will have to sit in the island’s only jail for four weeks. The Isle of Man’s only functioning prison is a 144-capacity medium-security facility which opened in 2008. Ford has also been banned from attending any future Isle of Man TT races for the next five years.
After all, the island’s police force is well known to have an unmoving stance regarding such reckless behaviour displayed among spectators during the TT races. With thousands of motorsport fans coming in to watch the event annually, harsh punishments were bound to be meted out in order to ensure that the race will go smoothly for everyone.
Poor Ford. He obviously did not think things through.