stash of cocaine into the Island 18 years ago will not be appealing his sentence.

Cruise ship steward Giuseppe Roncari, 42, was initially charged with being in possession of $31,750 worth of cocaine back in 1981.

But he managed to escape the Island and was on the run in the US for 17 years before finally being picked up by Police last year.

Last December Roncari finally received an eight year prison term for the offence after being extradited to the Island.

And in the Court of Appeal this week his lawyer withdrew an application to have the length of sentence reduced on the grounds that Roncari might be given an even stiffer punishment by the court if they had the opportunity to reconsider his case.

Attorney Marc Telemaque said: "Having taken some instructions and in relation to what other courts have said we are abandoning this application today.'' Appeal's Court Judge Sir James Astwood told Roncari that he was taking the right course of action by not appealing the initial sentence, hinting that, had he committed the same offence today, he would be sent to prison for a much greater length of time.

"Your case has a long history -- your lawyer's quite wise,'' he said.

Roncari, dressed in prison-regulation orange overalls, told the court that he intends to spend his time in custody writing a book.