financial pressure of raising three daughters.

Pam Robinson, 37, of Hillview Road, pleaded guilty yesterday in Magistrates' Court to stealing $31.66 worth of merchandise from the A-1 Grocery store in Paget.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor told the court Robinson was seen entering the store with a young child on June 22.

She placed the child and her straw bag in the top part of a grocery store cart and began shopping down one of the aisles.

She put two Radox bath gels, one bottle of Fantastic cleaner, three dish cloths, two Aloe lotion bottles, and Final Touch fabric softener in her bag before going to the cashier to purchase a package of muffins.

Sgt. Taylor said when she left the store, she was stopped outside by the manager who later called the Police.

Her lawyer Sonia Grant told Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp that Robinson had been under a lot of pressure raising three children after being recently separated from her husband.

She also said Robinson's estranged husband had been unable to work due to a back injury which had made finances even tighter.

Ms Grant added that one of Robinson's daughters had been attending private school, but was no longer able to do so. She told the court that Robinson was a civil servant and that her place of employment would be already investigating the incident.

And she suggested that Mrs. Mapp only impose a fine on Robinson as she had admitted to the crime and the goods had been recovered.

However, Mrs. Mapp said she did not understand how a fine would help Robinson's financial stress.

Instead, she ordered a social inquiry report to find out why Robinson would put her family and job in jeopardy. Mrs. Mapp ordered Robinson to return to court for sentencing on September 16 when the report is expected to be completed.

MAGISTRATE ALLOWS MAN TO KEEP CYCLE LICENCE CTS Magistrate allows man to keep cycle licence An engineer's job was saved by a Magistrate who allowed him to keep his auxiliary cycle licence.

John Keenslyside, 37, of Lightbourne Lane, Smith's Parish, pleaded guilty yesterday in Magistrates' Court to driving when the proportion of alcohol in his blood was more than the legal limit.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Police were on duty on East Broadway around 2 a.m. on June 29 when they saw a blue Suzuki motorcycle overtaking and swerving before almost hitting the left hand carriage sidewalk.

The officers pulled over the rider by the junction of Crow Lane and Berry Hill, Paget and noted that Keenslyside smelled of alcohol.

It was later discovered that he had 92 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal level is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Duty counsel Elizabeth Christopher asked Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp to consider allowing Keenslyside to keep his auxiliary cycle licence as he was a professional engineer and needed transportation to attend numerous job sites.

However, Mrs. Mapp replied: "Drinking and driving is drinking and driving whether it is 81 or whether it causes a fatality.'' She asked Keenslyside: "If you know your job is dependent on driving, why are you choosing to drink and drive?'' Miss Christopher then suggested that Keenslyside be sentenced to restricted driving hours for an auxiliary cycle. But Mrs. Mapp said this would be too difficult to enforce.

She asked that Keenslyside present her with a letter from his employer stating that he needed a licence to remain employed.

Later in the afternoon, upon receiving the letter, Mrs. Mapp fined Keenslyside $500 and banned him from driving all motor vehicles except auxiliary cycles for one year.

STUDENT PLEADS IN VAIN TO KEEP LICENCE CTS Student pleads in vain to keep licence An overseas college student caught driving while impaired pleaded in vain with a Magistrate yesterday to be allowed to keep her driver's licence for work.

Elizabeth Nelson, 20, of North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish, admitted driving while impaired on June 28.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Police officers were on patrol on Pomander Road, Pembroke, just before 2 a.m. when they saw a blue Suzuki motorcycle driving in the wrong direction down the one-way road.

It was later discovered that Nelson had 133 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Sgt. Taylor also told the court that Nelson was a student overseas.

Nelson asked Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp if she could keep her licence to drive a bike, explaining that she was a waitress at Flanagan's and had no other means of getting home at 2 a.m. when her shift ended.

But Mrs. Mapp refused, stressing that Nelson should be aware of the dangers of drinking and driving especially since she worked at a bar. She ordered Nelson to pay a $500 fine and banned her from driving all motor vehicles for one year.