A Government worker who helps recovering drug addicts is in trouble with his employers after testifying for the defence in a drug trial.

The Department for National Drug Control said it's come under "heavy criticism" from the public since Sinclair Simmons gave evidence for Raymond (Yankee Boy) Rawlins.

It issued a press release stating: "The Department for National Drug Control did not and does not support the actions of the staff member and views them to be in direct opposition to the guiding principles of the National Drug Control Policy and Master Plan."

However, Rawlins' defence lawyer, Charles Richardson, attacked the department for its stance, telling this newspaper Mr. Simmons was an unbiased witness who tried to help the court.

"The manner in which Mr. Simmons is being criticised is a counterproductive, knee-jerk reaction and uninformed on top of that," he complained yesterday.

As previously reported, Rawlins, 47, of Court Street, was jailed for four-and-a-half months earlier this month after being convicted of possessing 11.76 grams of crack cocaine.

He was originally charged with possessing the drug with intent to supply it a more serious offence but managed to persuade Magistrate Juan Wolffe that it was for his own personal use.

Besides giving evidence in his own defence during his trial, he also called upon Mr. Simmons to testify as to the amounts of cocaine that an addict can get through. Mr. Simmons described himself as a recovering addict who works for the Department for National Drug Control at the men's treatment centre in St. George. After detailing his own experience of drug addiction and his work with addicts, he was accepted by the Magistrate as an expert in the use, sale, distribution and packaging of drugs.

Mr. Simmons stated that a drug addict could get through 11.76 grams of crack cocaine in a day, and the Magistrate took his evidence into account when he accepted that Mr. Rawlins was not guilty of intending to supply it.

In the press release, issued late on Monday, the Department for National Drug Control complained that the first they knew of Mr. Simmons giving evidence was when it was reported in the media.

"The Department for National Drug Control would like to clarify that the staff member in question is not a counsellor by profession and is not qualified or registered to practice as such in Bermuda," they said.

"The staff member does not have the credentials to be deemed an expert witness on behalf of the Department for National Drug Control and appeared in the Magistrates' Court on his own accord, and was unauthorised to represent the department in the court matter."

Mr. Simmons was said to be off work yesterday when The Royal Gazette tried to contact him there. We reported in 2004 that he was among the first graduates of an accredited Island-based course for counselling drug addicts, the BACB Basic Addiction Studies course.

Responding to the criticism of Mr. Simmons, Mr. Richardson said: "The first thing they say is he's not an expert who's qualified to appear in court. He is. If the Ministry had done their homework and done a little digging before they dragged him through the mud they would know you can become an expert in two ways based on education or based on practical experience, or a combination of those two. Mr. Simmons was accepted by the court. He is a member of the treatment community. He appears before Drug Court on a regular basis and was accepted as an expert by the consent of the Magistrate and Crown counsel based on his experience."

Mr. Richardson who believes the law unfairly brands addicts as dealers for possessing more than a gram of cocaine added: "He didn't come to advocate for Mr. Rawlins, all he really came to say was that the average user could, and often does, have a gram or more in his possession and to automatically assume he is a dealer is to send someone who should be treated for addiction to jail."

He pointed out that someone accused of dealing, who insists drugs are for personal use, must be able to call evidence to that effect. The only others, besides the Police, who know about such things are addicts and addiction counsellors, he said.

"The only person who can give us accurate information about how much people use, how much they spend, their habits, the only person who can give that type of information is Mr. Simmons and the way they are treating him right now means that all of us in the public arena are going to be deprived of a very useful source of information."