A Devonshire man was sent to Supreme Court for sentencing after Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves decided his record was so bad he deserved treatment beyond the powers of Magistrates' Court.

Jason Sinclair Liburd, 33, of North Shore Road in Devonshire, appeared before Mr. Greaves charged with stealing a gold bracelet from Sovereign Jewellers on Reid Street.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told the court that on October 7 Liburd entered the store and insisted a sales clerk allow him to try on a seven-and-a-half inch yellow gold charm bracelet. As he put it on, he fastened the safety clasp, and when the clerk warned he would have to unfasten it to remove the bracelet, he ran from the store.

He was arrested on October 10 although the bracelet was not recovered.

Duty counsel Llewellyn Peniston told the court Liburd was "in desperate need" of money in order to meet a hospital bill, adding that he had only recently been discharged from St. Brendan's Hospital.

"The sum involved was not a great deal," he said, asking for a social inquiry report into the matter.

However Mr. Greaves read aloud parts of Liburd's history of more than 12 convictions both in Bermuda and in the US Virgin Islands.

"This man has been doing this kind of thing since he was born," he said. "Government has spent all kinds of money on him."

As he read the history, Liburd asked: "Are you reading it out to brag about it ...to glorify my past?"

"I'm reading it out to understand you," Mr. Greaves replied.

However, Liburd said he did not believe the Magistrate, and added what he said could not hurt him. "What I've been doing hurts me," he said. "Because I'm not fulfilling my role model as a man."

"I'm trying to understand why I would need to order a social inquiry report," Mr. Greaves said. "What would I learn that 15 judges before me didn't learn?

"This accused's record is so bad, I think I do not have sufficient jurisdiction re: sentencing to deal with him appropriately," he told the court. "I think society needs to be protected from him for a very long time."

Mr. Greaves committed Liburd to the Supreme Court for sentencing, remanding him for mention on October 29. Liburd was also sent to Supreme Court from Magistrates' Court yesterday for another, indictable charge of robbery using personal violence.