Jailed pensioner told to rethink his relationship with his snake

A 66-year-old man from Douglas on the Isle of Man has been jailed for eight weeks after scaring a teenager with a two-foot long snake.

Andrew John Fielding was arrested after approaching the 18-year-old woman at 1.45am on June 21 in the Villa Marina Gardens in Douglas with the snake. Fielding asked the woman: ‘If I show you something do you promise not to scream?’



He told the court that the snake had crawled up his sleeve before he went out and he had not noticed because he was drunk. Just two weeks’ earlier, on June 8, Fielding had been fined £600 in court for pressing the snake against a woman’s car window near to his house.

While passing sentence Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes told Fielding: "This is extremely serious, the woman must have been extremely frightened faced by a drunk man making that comment in the early hours. The probation report says you do not seem to appreciate the impact your offending has on your victims. You need to think about your relationship with your snake and with alcohol."