Court to speak on behalf of a man who seemed bound for prison as a result of dishonesty.

The man, who had stolen and forged cheques from his own father, claimed he had been driven to crime as a result of his drugs and alcohol addiction.

Mr. Edness, who had been approached by the man for help, urged Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp to spare the man from prison and instead to require him to see a drugs addiction counsellor. Mr. Edness had also secured work for the man.

"He has a serious drugs problem but when he goes to prison and comes out he will still have it with him,'' Mr. Edness said.

Mr. Edness deserves commendation for acting for the man and, it would appear, spoke eloquently on his behalf.

But Mrs. Mapp told him, rightly, that he was in a far better position than she to see to it that proper and effective drugs rehabilitation is put in place in the prisons in order to stop the cycle of drugs and crime that Mr. Edness had described.

When Westgate was opened, it was promised that the new -- and expensive facility -- would have proper rehabilitation facilities for people like the man Mr. Edness represented. Mr. Edness, as a member of the Cabinet and as the Minister in charge of the prisons at the time of the move, must take some of the responsibility for the fact that it does not.

As a Minister, he should urge his Government to put proper drugs rehabilitation at the prison in place. If the Government fails to do so then the extensive -- and again expensive -- restructuring of the Police, for which Mr. Edness is now the Minister responsible, will be meaningless.

Bermuda Day Bermuda Day is over for another year and most Bermudians will have taken their first dip of the year, watched dinghies race in St. George's, run the "marathon'' and/or enjoyed the sights and sounds of the parade.

This morning, it's worth taking a little time to reflect on this holiday and what it means.

For some, it remains Queen Victoria's birthday and carries with it the meaning of being part of something bigger -- a thriving Commonwealth -- and some of the heritage and baggage of being one of the remnants of empire.

But for most of us, this is now very much Bermuda Day and it gives us a chance to celebrate our own unique heritage and the tremendous diversity within this small Island.

Each year, the sight of whites and blacks, Bermudians and "expats'', West Indians and Portuguese, and so on, mingling in an atmosphere of tolerance and celebration, demonstrates what an example Bermuda can be to the rest of the world.

It's a shame that we cannot put our differences aside more often and remember that those factors which unite us far outnumber those that divide us.