A Sandys man told a Magistrate he thought he was at home when he was caught drunkenly plundering the Police fridge at Somerset Police Recreation Club.

Richard Allan DeSilva, 22, of White Hill Lane, was fined $750 yesterday after pleading guilty to stealing food worth $20 from three officers on January 1. He told Magistrate Carlisle Greaves: “It was New Year's. I was drunk, I thought I was home. I didn't know what was happening.”

Crown Counsel Wayne Caines said one of the officers, P.c. Edward Smith, was in his car outside the police club at 1.20 a.m. when he saw DeSilva walk around to the front door. He found him at the open fridge but, unconcerned, DeSilva ambled away with two containers of food and sat down in the TV room.

P.c. Smith told him the kitchen was out of bounds but DeSilva said: “The guy told me I could get something to eat.”

Asked which “guy” DeSilva replied: “The guy who just left in the Police car.”

P.c. Smith noticed DeSilva had bloodshot eyes and was carrying a metallic object in his hand. DeSilva approached P.c. Smith and said: “What the f**k, I just come in here to get something to eat. F**k, you can't make me leave.”

The officer wrestled DeSilva to the ground and siezed the object, a combination knife and spoon.

DeSilva took a plastic food container of rice from his jacket which he hurled to the ground, along with a container of chips, a loaf of bread and two cups of yoghurt. He later told the Police he stole the food because he was hungry. Magistrate Greaves fined jobless DeSilva $250 for each count of stealing after hearing he had a previous stealing conviction.

Thieves stole a handbag and a CD player from a classroom at Harrington Sound Primary school sometime over the holiday weekend. Police spoke with the school principal at 9.30 p.m. on Monday morning.

She reported that sometime between last Thursday and Monday morning a thief or thieves entered several rooms on the premises.

And a Rambling Lane,Pembroke resident was also the victim of theft. Sometime between 8.20 a.m. Monday morning and 5.10 p.m. on Monday night, someone broke into his storeroom and removed two Gemini turntables.

A St. George's woman who was found slumped in the passenger seat of her Rover while traffic piled up behind her has been banned from the road for a year. Exempted company president Barbara West, 49, of Cut Road, was approached by Police at 6.45 p.m. on Blue Hole Hill, St. George's on January 16 this year. She got out of her car and walked towards Police but stumbled and almost fell.

She co-operated with Police, admitted having a few drinks in Hamilton and said she had been wrong. A breath test revealed she was more than twice over the legal drink drive limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Magistrate Carlisle Greaves also fined her $1,000.

Also getting a year's ban and the same fine was Devonshire man Michael John Kane, a broker with Marsh and McLennan, who admitted failing to provide a breath test.

Kane, 28, of Garthowen Road, lost control of his car in Middle Road on January 27 this year. When asked if he had been drinking he told Police: “I have been drinking, I wasn't drinking.”

When probed further he gave another equally contradictory statement and then denied he had been driving the car. In court yesterday he told Mr. Greaves: “I was knocked out by the impact so I was a bit confused.”

With less than two weeks left until the Bermuda End-to-End 2003 walk/ride/paddle on May 3 walkers are encouraged to take part in the last practice walk on Sunday starting and finishing at Spanish Point Park at 7 a.m.

The practice walks are being hosted by the Walking Club of Bermuda. Walkers are advised to bring their own water. Seniors are encouraged to practice as well for the Seniors' Stroll.

There will also be a training ride for anyone considering cycling End-to-End. The ride will start at 9 a.m. from the Flag Pole on Front Street. Cyclists must wear a helmet.

The main purpose of the Bermuda End-to-End walk/ride/paddle is to raise funds for charity. Walkers, paddlers and cyclists are urged to pick up a pledge form and obtain as many pledges as possible to help raise funds for the following charities: The Family Learning Centre, The St. George's Foundation, The Reading Clinic, St. John's Ambulance and The Physical Abuse Centre.

Pledge forms are available at all Bank of Bermuda branches, the Mobility shop and authorised dealers, Lindo's Family Foods, Lindo's Devonshire, Sportsellar and Sports Locker.

Registration is scheduled for Wednesday, April 30th at the Front Street branch of the Bank of Bermuda from 6.30 p.m. - 8.30 p.m.

A Warwick man faces Supreme Court sentencing after pleading guilty to four burglary and dishonesty offences in Hamilton Parish last autumn.

Jamie Michael Smith, 22, from Rockland Crescent, pleaded guilty to stealing a Sony video equipment from a home on September 12 last year worth $1,200. He also pleaded guilty to taking $3,500 cash from Kitty Drive later that month, attempting to break and enter another home on October 14 and receiving a DVD player sometime in November, stolen form someone in Shelly Bay.

Smith has reconstructed the burglaries for Police but only the $500 DVD player out of the $5,000-plus haul had been recovered.

Crown counsel Dwayne Caines said Smith had a long history of burglary offences and needed jail time. Mr. Greaves said his own sentencing powers were too light and ordered him to be committed to the Supreme Court.