30 participants for Sunday?s Christmas parade

Sunday?s Christmas Parade will feature more than 30 participants. Highlights include the Bermuda Institute School Steel Band, The Bermuda All Breed Club, The Bermuda Bikers? Association, Miss Teen Bermuda, majorettes, gombeys and Santa.

It starts at 4.30 p.m. on Par-la-Ville Road and will wind east along Front Street, north to Court Street and finally west to Church Street.

Spectators are encouraged to park at Bull?s head as there will be no parking at Par-La-Ville car park.

Drunk driver broke man?s arm in collision

A man who left a fellow motorist with a broken arm after crashing into his bike at nearly twice the drink-drive limit has been fined and banned from the roads.

Magistrates? Court heard how 25-year-old Antonio Soares was riding his livery cycle west along Stovell Bay Lane, Pembroke in the early hours of June 26 when he crossed onto the wrong side of the road.

He collided with an auxiliary cycle being ridden east by Jennifer Dick, whose pillion passenger Neil Hawdon sustained a broken right forearm.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson said Police who attended the scene noticed that Soares, of Spanish Point Road, Pembroke, had glazed eyes and smelled of alcohol.

A breath test revealed that he had 158 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood, when the legal limit is 80.

Soares pleaded guilty to impaired driving yesterday and was handed a $1,000 fine and a 12-month driving ban by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner who admonished him: ?You nearly killed somebody.?

Scuffles at Casey?s send one to hospital

A man was treated for cuts and bruises after being punched and kicked by three men in Casey?s Cocktail lounge on Wednesday night.

It was the culmination of a series of fights which led to a Police Inspector ordering the club closed for the evening as a precaution against any further disturbances.

Police were called to Casey?s on Queen Street shortly after 8 p.m. on Wednesday after reports of fighting inside.

A Police spokesman said one man, believed to be the main instigator, was taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries after the main fight at the bar area sparked off two minor fights.

The thousand dollar lunch

A 20-year-old who flouted his driving ban so he could go home for a meal has been handed a hefty fine at Magistrates? Court.

Malcolm Johnston, of Cedar Hill, Warwick, had previously been disqualified from driving after speeding at 84 kph.

Explaining why he had ridden his green Malaguti motorcycle on Middle Road, Warwick, on November 15 despite the ban, he told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: ?I had to go home for lunch.?

?That?s going to be an expensive lunch,? Mr. Warner said as he fined him $1,000.

Parliament to consider Airport Landing fees

Traffic offences, Airport landing fees, the marine environment and public accounts dating back to 1999 will be among the business to be discussed by politicians in the House of Assembly today.

Time has been set aside for a second reading of the Traffic Offences (Penalties) Amendment Act 2005 and consideration of draft regulations entitled Civil Airports (Landing Fees) Regulations 2005.

The House is also to look at a white paper on the ?Marine Environment and the Fishing Industry in Bermuda?, an item moved by Minister Neletha Butterfield, and a motion by Opposition leader Dr. Grant Gibbons that: ?The Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Public Accounts for the Financial Years ended 31 March 1999; 2000; 2001 and 2002, together with the response on the said report presented by the Minister of Finance on 24 June 2005 be considered by the House.?

American tourist fined for drink-driving

An American tourist caught more than four times over the drink-drive limit has been fined $1,000 and disqualified from driving in Bermuda for 12 months.

Magistrates? Court heard yesterday that 38-year-old Gregory Edeburn, of Pittsboro, North Carolina, was seen by Police officers on Barrack Hill, St George?s at 4.45 p.m. on Wednesday.

According to Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson, Edeburn was sitting unsteadily on his red livery cycle in a bus lay-by, and when spoken to by the officers appeared to be flushed, and smelled heavily of alcohol.

He placed his cycle on its stand with some difficulty and then had to lean on the Police vehicle to steady himself as he was unable to stand up properly, continued Ms. Vaucrosson.

A subsequent breath test revealed he had 324 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, when the legal limit is 80.

Edeburn, a US citizen who is on vacation in Bermuda at the St. George?s Club until tomorrow, pleaded guilty to the charge of having care and control of a vehicle while impaired. He was handed the fine and ban by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.

Taxi driver suffers costly conversation

A taxi driver has alleged a woman he took to a remote location for a conversation stole $1,400 from him.

The 63-year-old driver told Police he spotted the woman, whom he knew, near the junction of Parliament and Front Street at 3.45 a.m. yesterday and then agreed to give her money.

After withdrawing $30 from an ATM they drove to an undisclosed remote location for a brief conversation.

A short while later he dropped the 31-year-old woman off on Curving Avenue but later discovered $1,400 cash was missing from his pocket.

Tool thief fined $1,000

A 44-year-old man was chastised for using his elderly mother as an excuse for his dishonest ways by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.

Anthony Winslow Outerbridge, of Riviera Road, Southampton was charged and pleaded guilty to stealing a Bosche hammer valued at $531.60 from Island Glass Ltd.

The offence took place on October 17 while Outerbridge was doing electrical work at the store.

The owner did not immediately realise the tool was missing and only copped on when a potential buyer enquired where it had gone a few days later.

After reviewing the security tapes it was clear that Outerbridge had committed the theft.

Outerbridge told the court he had an elderly mother whom he took care of and a drug problem but Mr. Warner quickly interrupted the man.

?Give me a break, don?t blame your mother,? the judge said. ?Looking after parents is a great thing to do, but nothing to do with your drug problem or thievery.?

Mr. Warner also told the man that a drug problem was no excuse.

He commended him for already being enrolled in a drug counselling programmr, but said: ?You?re not on the streets. You?re making good money as an electrician. To me you?re just a thief.?

He was fined $1,000 for the crime.