Two men caught who claimed to be on fishing expedition when caught at a beach off Westgate were yesterday sentenced to a week in jail for trespassing at the prison.

Chesterfield Johnson and Tyler Christopher had earlier insisted they were collecting sand for chumming.

Yesterday they pleaded guilty to the offence.

Johnson, a homeless 62-year-old, and 17-year-old Christopher, of Bat and Ball Lane, Sandys, were caught at the Dockyard facility on November 19.

Crown counsel Susan Mulligan said prison officers spotted a small white boat approaching a beach near the maximum security prison around 11.05am.

The officers noticed a young man about ten feet within the prison’s razor-wire perimeter and a second man holding the boat alongside some nearby rocks.

The young man ran and jumped back on the boat when he spotted the officers, she said. ‘

The two men then left the scene and the prison officers alerted police. Marine police eventually arrested the pair.

Their 16ft boat Fish Finder was seized and searched by police with a member of the canine unit.

The dog indicated the presence of drugs on board but no drugs were found, Ms Mulligan said.

Christopher’s lawyer, Saul Dismont, asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner to consider a conditional discharge for his client.

He said he was merely on the boat to learn how to fish and that he was wearing an electronic monitoring device at the time.

“He knows he is being watched 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Mr Dismont.

Christopher only went on shore because Johnson asked him to collect sand, he added.

“After an extensive search of him, the boat and the area in question, no drugs were found,” the lawyer added.

Mr Warner asked what was so special about the sand near Westgate.

Johnson’s lawyer Taj Jamal said his client only remembered that he needed sand while near the beach, as he headed out to deeper waters.

“They needed sand for chumming. It was a mistake and he knows now. He’ll choose a different beach next time,” he said.

Both lawyers argued that there was no razor wire surrounding the property or signs warning trespassers.

Said Mr Warner: “I don’t believe either of them, not one iota of it.”

He agreed that the time the pair had spent in custody since November 21 was a sufficient sentence for the crime and released them.