Man leaned into a Police car and swore

A man leaned into a Police car and swore at an officer who asked him to get out of the road, a court heard.

Pierre Sarolea, 30, admitted using offensive words when he appeared at Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The court heard officers saw the defendant standing in the middle of Front Street outside Bermuda Bistro at the Beach in the early hours of May 5.

As they pulled alongside him in their patrol car and asked him to move out of the way, Sarolea said: "F*** off".

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney said the incident happened at 2.20 a.m. as officers were heading west along Front Street.

"They saw a man standing in the middle of the road in front of a taxi, in front of the Beach bar," he said.

"They asked the defendant to get out of the road but he leaned in the window of the Police car towards the driver and told them to 'F*** off'.

"The officer cautioned him he could be arrested for using offensive words but again he told them to 'F*** off'. He then started to walk off. The officer told him again he could be arrested for using offensive words and he said, 'Why are you treating me like this?'

"He was once again warned he was committing an offence and was taken to Hamilton Police Station and detained."

Pleading guilty to the offence yesterday, Sarolea, of Devonshire, said: "I'm sorry for what happened."

Magistrate Juan Wolfe told him: "You must be quite brazen to lean inside a Police car and tell them to 'F*** off'."

He replied: "I'm sorry for what happened that night. I was mad at someone else."

Mr. Wolfe said: "A Police officer was the last person you should have taken it out on, wasn't it?"

He gave Sarolea a three month conditional discharge.

Driver fined for speeding at 131 kph

A man who drove his car at 80 mph with the Police in pursuit claimed he could not remember anything about the incident, a court heard.

Rudolph Bean, 53, pleaded guilty yesterday to speeding at 131 kph (the equivalent of 81 mph), dangerous driving and of having no driving licence.

He also admitted a separate offence of having no motorcycle helmet on November 3.

Bean, of North Shore, told Magistrates' Court: "I don't remember anything as I was suffering from chronic bipolar disorder. I just crashed my car."

Magistrate Juan Wolfe said: "It's quite serious, 131 kph. You crash a car at that speed the Lord is definitely looking over you for you still to be here. My list doesn't even go up to 131 kph."

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney said the incident took place on December 3, 2004, as Police were conducting laser speed checks along Kindley Field Road, St. George's.

"At 7.20 a.m. a white Toyota motor car was being driven west when it passed through a Police laser speed check at 131 kph," said Mr. Mahoney.

'It then overtook a line of cars. The defendant was then pursued by a Police car and was seen to travel the wrong way around a roundabout, causing one car to crash.

"The defendant then headed across the Causeway. He drove through heavy traffic and was overtaking vehicles at 100 kph.

"He continued west at a high speed towards Pembroke before being involved in a collision with the rear of a Jeep. No one was injured, but the collision caused substantial front-end damage."

Mr. Wolfe told Bean: "Your guardian angel was at your shoulder."

The defendant replied: "I was just diagnosed with the sickness and I was just wondering if I could get a discharge. I've been driving since I was 18 or 19 and this came on (the bipolar disorder) in my late-40s."

But Mr. Wolfe said: "This sort of offence and speed, I can't give you a conditional discharge. This speed is off the charts.

"Although it was not your intent, you put a lot of people in danger that day, and I can't simply give you a conditional discharge for this sort of speed."

He fined Bean $500 for the speeding offence, plus $100 for not having a licence and $500 for dangerous driving.

Bean was also fined $75 for failing to wear a motorcycle helmet on November 3, to which he also plead guilty. His licence was endorsed with three penalty points.

The defendant's total fine was $1,275.

Man on bribery charge

The case of a man accused of attempting to bribe the Police to drop a drugs case will head to Supreme Court on June 1.

Kenneth Thompson, 50, of Sandys, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice by corruptly procuring a member of the Bermuda Police Service to dispose of an active Police investigation in which he was arrested under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Between the same dates, from March 2 to August 27, 2009, he is also charged with allegedly corruptly offering to give a member of the Bermuda Police Service money.

Thompson has not been required to enter a plea, and yesterday Magistrate Juan Wolfe sent the matter to Supreme Court where he is due to enter a plea on June 1. Bail was set at $10,000.

$2,000 fine for cannabis possession near school

A man was caught with two cannabis joints and seven grams of the drug in an increased penalty zone near a primary school, a court heard.

Shaki Moniz, 27, pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court yesterday to possession of the drug.

Senior Crown counsel, Carrington Mahoney, told the court Moniz was arrested in Grenadier Lane, St. George's, within 300 metres of East End Primary School, on November 29.

He said officers stopped the defendant at 12.30 p.m. that day as they were conducting stop and search checks in the area.

"As one officer stopped the defendant he produced a homemade cigarette with plant-like material," said Mr. Mahoney.

"As the officer cautioned him, he asked what the cigarette was, and the defendant replied, 'A spliff'."

As he was arrested, Moniz then said: "Are you serious? I gave it to you."

Officers then found a second homemade cigarette in his right hand and two plastic twists containing "a plant-like material" in his car.

The bags were later found to contain a total 7.08 grams of cannabis.

Magistrate Juan Wolfe fined Moniz, a Department of Parks employee, $2,000.