Two US women were charged in Magistrates? Court with conspiring to import 450 grams of cannabis estimated to be worth $22,500 on Friday.

Rhonda Yvette Miller, 31, of Long Beach, California and Tonia Lavette Davis, 34, of New York, were charged with conspiring together and with others not before the courts to import cocaine and possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

As these offences are indictable they were not required to enter a plea and the matter was adjourned until July 25. Both the defendants were granted bail of $15,000 with a like surety.

A Hamilton Parish teen faces prison after yesterday pleading guilty in Supreme Court to importing $234,000 worth of drugs last year.

Gavon Hollis, 18, of Cottage Hill Road, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply 48 grams of heroin, 828 grams of cocaine and 18 grams of cannabis on September 28.

The haul was discovered at the FedEx centre in Hamilton. His lawyer Elizabeth Christopher asked for a social inquiry report and asked that it look at his suitability for being sent to the Co-Ed facility rather than Westgate. She said the crime had demonstrated a ?total and utter lack of sophistication?.

Hollis? curfew and bail was extended and he will return to Supreme Court on September 1 for a sentencing date to be set.

A Southampton man was fined $1000 and disqualified from all vehicles for 12 months after pleading guilty to driving while impaired.

Ron Vasco, of the staff quarters, the Reefs, Southampton, appeared in Magistrates? Court on charges of driving while under the influence.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner heard that on June 14, Police saw Vasco swerving along the road while riding an auxiliary cycle.

They followed him for a short distance and saw him cross the yellow line and almost hit a wall on Lighthouse Hill.

When the Police stopped him, Vasco could not stand on his feet and fell over and smelled of intoxicants. After a breathalyser was taken, of Vasco was found to be in excess of the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Cheating a taxi driver out of a $85.49 fare has cost a Devonshire man a $200 fine plus restitution after he pleaded guilty to getting the ride by false pretences.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner fined Niedel Swan, 21, of Friswells Road, after hearing Swan failed to return from a home between Primary and Scotts Hill Lanes, Sandys on Saturday night. The driver reported the fraud to Police after waiting for some time.

Swan asked the taxi driver to take him from Devonshire to Sandys and during the journey Swan said he had $40. He also stopped once in Southampton.

When the taxi arrived at the residence in Sandys, Williams told the taxi driver he would get some more money but failed to return from the residence. The defendant who is employed, has no previous convictions. He said he was sorry for his offence and said he was drunk at the time of the incident.

The fine and restitution must be paid by next Friday or Swan will have to spend 60 days in prison.

Modernised laws against a host of stealing and dishonesty offences were passed in the House of Assembly on Friday, with Government heralding the changes as a ?monumental? step forward for the criminal justice system.

The Theft Act 2005 is some 40-pages long and covers crimes such as fraud, deception, blackmail and document destruction.

Robbery and burglary will now be triable in the Magistrates? Court as well as the Supreme Court while Magistrates will also be given increased sentencing powers.

However, so wide-ranging is the new legislation, Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton said, that it will take up to six months before it can come into practice, as those working in the justice system will need time to train and adjust to the regulations.

?Our Criminal Code dates back to 1907 and has always been amended,? he said. ?In relation to the sections on stealing, it has been amended extensively. ?However, current Criminal Code provisions on stealing have become so obsolete as they do not deal with many modern laws on stealing that are found in other jurisdictions.?

The Code is so antiquated in some instances, Mr. Horton continued, that punishments for stealing a mule or from a ship in distress are still listed. ?Changes are sure to be welcomed by everybody in the justice system,? he concluded.