came to court with $300 in his pocket, ended up in prison by Monday afternoon.

Steede spent the entire morning in the plea session of Magistrates' Court waiting for his case to be called, but when the session ran long, Magistrate Ed King ordered him to return in the afternoon.

Steede, from Ingham's Vale, Pembroke, faced a total of 17 matters, five which were warrants for fines he had not paid since 1998. Those fines totalled $1,540 and Mr. King ordered Steede to pay them immediately or go to prison for 180 days.

All the matters stemmed from traffic offences and on top of the outstanding fines, Steede also faced 12 previously unmentioned charges.

He readily admitted three separate charges of speeding, four separate charges of riding without a valid driver's licence, riding an unlicensed motorbike and two counts of riding an uninsured vehicle.

Steede appeared bewildered as he faced a total of $6,490 in fines, and he was unable to offer any suggestion to Mr. King as to how he would set about settling the debt.

Mr. King meted out a six-month prison sentence to Steede in lieu of the fines and ordered that the time run concurrently with the 180 days he had ordered for the warrants.

Steede appeared appreciative and greatly relieved when the sentence was explained to him.