Senior Magistrate William Francis ruled that Ricardo Dowling -- who is due to be sentenced for two charges of theft and tried for a single count of breaking and entering -- would probably not have returned to Bermuda if he had made it out of the Island.

Dowling, of Granaway Heights in Southampton, was found hiding in a life raft on board the cruise ship Dreamward by ship security on Tuesday.

The Police were contacted and Dowling was arrested. He had been bailed by Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp on $1,000 bail earlier and was due to return to court for trial and sentencing on November 8.

He had pleaded guilty to stealing two bus vaults worth close to $2,000 in Sandys on August 17 and 19 while denying breaking into a Sandys home with intent to steal.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Donald Grant said Dowling was attempting to breach his bail and its conditions.

Dowling denied this and said he had paid a member of the ship's crew $600 for a pass to get on the vessel.

He said his intention was to get to Boston where his mother -- who was under a lot of stress -- lived to try to persuade her to return to Bermuda with him.

He stressed that he had planned to be back for his court date.

Sgt. Grant said Dowling had ten apprehension warrants on his file for failing to turn up at court before and added that he felt Dowling would not have returned to the Island if he had escaped its jurisdiction.

Duty Counsel Julianna Jack said it was a case of "a boy wanting to go see his mother'' and asked the Magistrate to see both sides of the situation.

All of Dowling's family were in the US, she added, so Dowling should be released on his own recognizance as there was no-one who could sign a surety for him.

Mr. Francis said he gave Dowling every benefit of the doubt in reaching his decision but was not convinced that Dowling would have returned to the Island if he had left.

Added to that was his unsatisfactory record for appearing in court, he said.

He then remanded Dowling in custody until his trial on November 8.

TRIAL DATE SET FOR EX-BOXER HILL CTS Trial date set for ex-boxer Hill Clarence Hill's list of trouble with the law just got a little longer.

For the ex-Olympic boxer appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday and was charged with using threatening behaviour in a public place -- namely Magistrates' Court -- on August 5.

Hill, 45, of Pembroke, stressed that he knew nothing about the charge and pleaded not guilty.

Senior Magistrate William Francis set the matter down for trial on January 3.

Hill won the bronze medal in Montreal in 1976.

WOMAN FINED FOR POSSESSING DRUGS CTS Woman fined for possessing drugs A 36-year-old Pembroke woman who admitted having cannabis and cannabis seeds at her home was fined a total of $300 at Magistrates' Court this week.

The court heard that drugs squad officers raided Valita Harford's home in Footpath Lane on July 3 and found the drugs.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Donald Grant told Senior Magistrate Will Francis that officers found pay-type envelopes in a teapot and cigarette papers.

A plastic bag containing the seeds was in the bathroom and a cigarette packet with an envelope containing cannabis was found in a drawer in the bedroom.

Sgt. Grant added when the seeds were found, Harford told officers: "They aren't mine -- I don't smoke ganja.'' Analysis of the material found by Police scientists established there was less than a gram of seeds and less than half a gram of cannabis.

Sgt. Grant added that the part-time restaurant worker and mother- of-three had no convictions for similar offences.

Defence agent Juliana Jack told the court: "She has pleaded guilty because paraphernalia and cannabis was found on her premises.

"Cannabis was left in a box, she knows after the fact, by a friend who had gone down the road.'' Ms Jack added: "Housesitters had sat the house for the whole year last year while she was abroad and she says she did not know of the presence of pay-type envelopes.'' MAN GUILTY OF OFFENSIVE BEHAVIOUR CTS Man guilty of offensive behaviour Warwick Parish man Urban Fleming, 34, was fined $300 in Magistrates' Court yesterday for behaving offensively at Elbow Beach.

And Fleming told the court he had pleaded guilty to the offence because: "I can't go against the Police officers because I find that they are right all of the time anyway.'' Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor told the court that Police went to Elbow Beach on July 18 after receiving reports of a disturbance.

Once there they were told by members of the public that Fleming had pulled his pants down and exposed himself.

The Police were told he then went into the water and began harassing swimmers.

When the officers approached him, Fleming became verbally abusive and despite being cautioned, continued to swear at the officers.

They arrested him and noticed he smelt of intoxicants and had to help him walk to the Police car.

Fleming said he had not pulled his trousers down but then added: "I won't waste the court's time. The Police are always right.

"They can do a million miles of wrong and pollute God's heaven with their wrongness and still be right.'' He continued: "I've found that Police officers can curse twice as worse toward a defendant and use every word in Satan's dictionary.

"But as soon as you say something, they say, `hey, offensive words, come with me'.'' Fleming also pleaded not guilty to wilfully damaging a Ford car and Senior Magistrate William Francis set a trial date for November 14 and released him on $800 bail with a like surety.

DEFENDANT WAS TOO `HOTHEADED' CTS Defendant was too `hotheaded' A 23-year-old Pembroke man who spat on a woman as she drove her car and then punched her when she stopped was fined $500 in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Craig Deforest Tucker, of Glebe Road, was also sentenced to four months imprisonment -- which was suspended for two years -- by Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp.

She told him that he was "hotheaded'' and needed to learn how to control his temper because no-one else could do that for him.

The court had heard that on September 22 of last year, Danniel Simmons was driving her car when Tucker rode up alongside and started a verbal dispute. He then spat at her.

They both stopped and Tucker punched her in the face. Tucker told the court that he had been "provoked'' by Miss Simmons for some time.