Woman cleared of sex assault

An 18-year-old woman was cleared of all charges involving a lesbian sexual assault on Wednesday in Magistrates? Court.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied being a lesbian and pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a younger teenager and holding her against her will.

Magistrate William Francis said that he did not believe the victim?s story.

?The defendant admits that she saw the victim on the last Harbour Night of 2002,? said Mr. Francis. ?But I find it hard to believe that the victim would go behind City Hall with the defendant ? when they weren?t friends any more.

?The evidence given by the defendant?s friends corroborated the times when they saw the defendant in other areas.?

Mr. Francis said it was difficult to believe that she was held against her will and sexually assaulted behind City Hall for two-and-a-half-hours.

?I find her not guilty on both counts,? said Mr. Francis.

Sleepers guilty of trespassing charges

Two men were given a conditional discharge in Magistrates? Court yesterday after they attempted to sleep in a truck in an automobile garage.

Ricardo Robinson, 42, of Dudley Hill, Paget and Dennis Warner, 49, of no fixed abode were found by Police sleeping in a white truck at the rear of a garage on Marsh Lane in Pembroke on February 25. They had not received permission from the owner to be there.

The court learned that when Police questioned Warner he said the owner of the garage always lets him sleep on the property to keep an eye out for trespassers.

In court onWednesday Robinson said: ?I?m sorry that it had to go this far and I?ll try my best not to let it happen again.?

Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves gave both men a 12-month conditional discharge.

Executive fines $1,000 for cannabis

A 56-year-old Trimingham?s executive was fined $1,000 after he was caught with cannabis when he arrived on a flight from Boston.

Gerald Eagen, of Old Road in Hamilton Parish, was stopped at the Customs desk at the Bermuda International Airport and his baggage was searched on December 28.

Inside his baggage, a Customs officer found a container of multivitamins. A plantlike substance was found inside the container that was later analysed to be 15.27 grams of cannabis.

At the time he said: ?I?m terribly regretful.?

Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill told the court that Eagen had no previous criminal record and had used the drug to combat stress.

?He was using it to help him sleep and was inadvertently given to him by a friend in the States,? Mr. Pettingill said.

He asked Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves to be ?as understanding as possible?.

Plans to renovate Old Town Police Station

Plans have been submitted to renovate the current St. George?s Police Station.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering and Housing is hoping to get plans passed to renovate the interior of the existing St. George?s Police station.

Permanent Secretary of Works and Engineering and Housing Derek Binns told : ?We plan on doing work to get the building up to standard. It is a matter of enhancing the facility.

?No major changes are planned and most of the work will be internal.? There is no date set for the start of the renovation because the plans have not been passed yet.

The plans were received on February 17 and are currently being reviewed by the Planning Department.

The station is located at 842 Southside Road, St. George?s.

Man charged with wounding

A 28-year-old man appeared in Supreme Court onWednesday to face three charges.

Kaream Tunes Gibbons, of Pembroke was charged with simple wounding, possession of a knife, and wilful damage to property. He pleaded guilty to the simple wounding and weapon possession but denied breaking a window causing $60 damage.

The incidents allegedly occurred on March 15, 2003. Oonagh Vaucrossen appeared for the Crown and Victoria Pearman represented Gibbons.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons told the court: ?Count three (the wilful damage charge) will remain on file but the prosecution will not proceed at this time.? Mrs. Simmons remanded Gibbons in custody until sentencing.

Tourist wakes to find stranger in his room

A tourist had a rude awakening this week when he woke to find an intruder rummaging through his trousers.

The guest told Police that a noise caused him to wake up at about 5 a.m. He said that when he got up to see what had caused it, he discovered a man in his room searching the contents of his trousers. The guest told officers he confronted the culprit who managed to escape with his wallet, which contained $200 and other personal items.

The tourist was staying at a property on the South Shore in Paget. The culprit is described as a white or light skinned male, about six feet tall wearing a baseball cap.

Woman threatened in road rage incident

Police are looking for a man who reportedly threatened a woman while riding in Paget on Monday.

In the most recent case of road rage, the victim, a 35-year old Paget woman, was so scared that she reported the incident to Police.

She told officers that she was riding west along Middle Road in Paget when a cycle attempted to pass her but could not, due to oncoming traffic. The woman said the male cyclist then blew his horn so she slowed down to allow him to pass on the inside.

As the cyclist came alongside, the woman asked him what he was doing and the man responded with offensive language.

He then followed the woman onto Manse Road continuing to shout at her. When they stopped on the road he approached her on foot in aggressive manner before riding off.

Police said that they have noticed an increase in incidents of road rage. Advising people not to tailgate, they said drivers should ensure there is enough room between them and the vehicle in front of them.

?We are urging road users to use care, caution and courtesy while driving.?