A man admitted to a theft he committed more than a year ago when he appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The court heard from Crown counsel Paula Tyndale that Richard M. S. Dill, 39, of Woodlawn Rd, Sandys, stole a quantity of alcohol, a cigarette holder sheath and a pair of sneakers from Ms. Deborah Bierman's Pembroke residence on February 24, 2007.

Ms. Bierman usually kept the liquids in an outside storage bin and used for parties and private functions.

Ms. Bierman came home and noticed her storage in disarray. When she inspected the storage area she noticed the items totalled $350 were missing and immediately contacted Police.

When Police arrived and searched the premises they noticed one of the wine bottles, which had been dropped in the yard.

After Police forensics investigated and the fingerprints were identified a year later, Dill was arrested and brought to the Police station where he admitted to the charges.

Dill told Police that he was on drugs and had nowhere to stay. He said he was at a party in the neighborhood and stumbled upon Ms Bierman's residence. He told Police that he sold the items to a Portuguese man for $100 to feed his drug habit.

He said he left the last bottle of wine behind because he didn't know if it was of any value and he didn't want to over load his bag.

He told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: "This is one of those cases where my past comes back to haunt me. This happened in February of 07, a year ago. I have been on put on probation, I have been in Turning Point for three weeks now which means I am almost finished the program and I have tested negative for drugs."

Mr. Warner addressed the Crown as to why this matter is just coming before the court a year later.

Ms. Tyndale said: "The complainant did report the incident in a timely manner and the investigation took place in a timely manner as far as why forensics is just getting to the court I cannot answer."

Mr. Warner enquired with probation services as to Dill progress and was informed that he was doing well in probation.

Mr. Warner ordered for Dill to continue his two-year probation order.