On Monday, he received a four-week jail sentence.
“This individual was aware of the law and showed a flagrant disregard when they chose to break it, mixing in the community and potentially putting lives at risk,” Howard Quayle, the chief minister of the Isle of Man, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Isle of Man, which relies on Britain for defense but is self-governing, is closed to nonresidents, except for those who have special permission. Mr. Mclaughlan arrived without an entry permission and failed to declare his arrival or self-isolate, Mr. Quayle said.
The island, which has a population of about 85,000, has only four active coronavirus cases and has not had a locally transmitted case for more than six months, Mr. Quayle said.
With isolation fatigue setting in, thousands of people around the world have been caught, fined and even jailed for defying coronavirus restrictions. In a case in Italy this year, a man was fined after leaving his house to cool off after an argument with his wife, breaching the country’s curfew. In Taiwan, a man was penalized for leaving his quarantine room for eight seconds, and in Australia, a man was caught violating lockdown to get butter chicken curry.
Mr. Mclaughlan, like many who have been separated from loved ones during the pandemic, was having trouble coping with the distance, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation, citing his lawyer. He told the authorities that he had met his girlfriend in September, when he had visited the island for his job as a roofer. After returning to Scotland, he had twice applied to travel to the Isle of Man to see his girlfriend, but both requests had been denied, according to court documents.