prison sentence handed down in Magistrates' Court to a 24-year-old convicted of behaving offensively and resisting arrest.

But he agreed that the magistrate who imposed the two three-month sentences should have made them concurrent instead of consecutive.

Magistrate the Wor. John Judge found Kevin DeRosa of Pembroke guilty last December of both charges. He sentenced him to three months consecutive for each offence.

The court had heard DeRosa refused to cooperate with Police who were trying to break up and control a crowd at about 3 a.m. last December 9 outside a Court Street nightclub where a man was wielding a knife.

DeRosa, who was part of the crowd, refused to answer Police questions, and swearing, told them to leave him alone. A struggle began when DeRosa refused to be handcuffed.

Defending his actions, DeRosa told the court the officer had been acting aggressively and in a hostile manner.

Appealing the sentences on DeRosa's behalf, lawyer Mr. Richard Hector said they were manifestly excessive considering his client had no similar past convictions and he not violently resisted the arrest.

"It was a mild form of resisting arrest -- he scratched the Police officer on the neck but the officer had no marks to show for it,'' Mr. Hector said. "It was something he did in the heat of the moment.'' But Mr. Meade said although the sentences should have been made to run consecutively, three months was not too high considering the offence.

"It was the worst kind of violently resisting arrest. It was done deliberately to provoke an incident in an already tense situation,'' he said.

He added: "The two offences arose out of the same incident so the sentences ought to have been concurrent. But I see no exceptional circumstances warranting a suspended sentence.'' Sir James found that magistrate the Wor. John Judge had acted properly in sending Kevin DeRosa of Pembroke to jail for the offences.

But he disagreed with Mr. Judge's ordering the sentences DeRosa received to run concurrently and granted part of his appeal.

"If you go out on the road and behave like that you go to prison,'' Sir James said.