guilty to obstructing officers yesterday in Magistrates' Court.

Randolph Benjamin, 33, of Lighthouse Hill in Southampton, was captured as he tried to escape through the back door while an unknown person hollered, "The man, the man!'' referring to the Police narcotics officers rushing through the building, said Crown counsel Graveney Bannister.

A search revealed Benjamin had no drugs and Police handcuffed him as they began searching other patrons at the club.

Mr. Bannister told Acting Senior Magistrate Edward King that Benjamin began shouting at officers as they began to search another patron.

Benjamin denied shouting at Police and said he was asking the Police officer for a key to the handcuffs.

"I even called the cop who searched me and he told me the reason he couldn't take the cuffs off was because he didn't have the key,'' said Benjamin.

He said he asked the officer who handcuffed him for the key a few times when the officer turned around and threw him against a wall.

When Mr. King asked if Benjamin had anything to say in relation to his punishment, Benjamin said: "I don't think I need to be penalised at all.

That's exactly how it went.'' Benjamin was fined $400, to be paid by the end of the month or serve a term of 56 days.

He was jailed for four years back in 1995 in a stabbing incident at the Ice Queen fast food counter in Paget.