Cruise ship passenger fined

A cruise ship passenger was fined after pleading guilty to assaulting a taxi driver in Hamilton.

Rex King, 32, of North Carolina, admitted to causing bodily harm to Leroy Brangman after he became involved in an altercation with the taxi driver on July 27.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo heard that King and his wife were taken by Mr. Brangman from St. George's to Hamilton to a bar where he did not want to go.

According to King he was charged a flat rate to the bar and paid $30 and a fight ensued between the two men when he claimed he was punched by Mr. Brangman.

In retaliation King said he later returned to punch.

Mr. Tokunbo ordered King to pay the $300 immediately before returning to his cruise ship in St. George's.

Sandys man threatened Police

Threatening Police officers cost a Sandys man $1,000 after he pleaded guilty to two charges of uttering threatening words.

Edward Simons, 52, was arrested on July 26 after Police approached Simons on Somerset Road. Simons smelled of alcohol and had an unopened bottle of beer in his hand.

Simons told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo he was sitting at a bus stop waiting for a friend when Police approached him.

He said he had been drunk at the time and Police searched him like he was a “gangster” and subsequently lost his temper.

Mr. Tokunbo fined Simons $500 for each charge.

Drunk driver fined $2,000

A Devonshire man was fined $2,000 and disqualified from driving all vehicles for two years after he pleaded guilty to two charges of driving while impaired.

Robert Chapman, 22, of Aerial View Road, was arrested twice on suspicion of driving while impaired in the space of one week in June.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo heard that on June 9 at 2 a.m. Police at the junction of Front and King streets noticed that Chapman was driving his motorcycle erratically from one side of the road to another.

When the Police stopped Chapman and asked him to get off the motorcycle they observed that he was unsteady on his feet, his eyes were bloodshot, his speech was slurred and his breath smelled of intoxicants.

When Police asked him if had anything to drink, Chapman replied: “I only had four beers”

After a breathalyser test, Chapman was found to have 102 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

The court also heard that on June 15 at 1.30 a.m. Police noticed Chapman riding west on Front Street on the east bound sidewalk and was stopped by Police on Queen Street.

The defendant had difficulty getting off the bike and Police noticed that his breath smelled of alcohol and his eyes were glazed.

When the Police asked him if had been drinking, Chapman responded: “I only had a couple of shots.”

After a breathalyser test, Chapman was found to have 137 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Mr. Tokunbo fined Chapman $1,000 and disqualified him from driving all vehicles for 12 months for each charge and ordered to pay the fine by August 5 or spend 200 days in custody if both fines are not paid.

US pair caught with cannabis

A Police dog had something to bark about after two Americans were caught attempting to import cannabis.

In unrelated incidents last week, Michael Meschi and Dean Gibaldi were singled out by the dog at the Bermuda International Airport.

And in Magistrates' Court last week both men were fined $1,500.

Meschi, 48, of 24 Randcho Del Sol, California, pleaded guilty to importing cannabis after he was arrested by Police. He arrived at the Airport on a flight from New York. During a search of his luggage, Customs officers found a plastic white prescription bottle containing 16 hand-made cigarettes. When asked what the cigarettes contained, Meschi said it was marijuana.

A Government analyst examined the cigarettes and found them to contain 9.85 grams of cannabis.

Meschi told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo that he had a medical prescription from a doctor in California allowing him to use cannabis to control an anxiety disorder adding that he was unsure about the drug laws in Bermuda.

Mr. Tokunbo said: “Unfortunately Bermuda has not arrived there yet and this offence still attracts a penalty.”

Mr. Tokunbo fined Meschi $1,500 which he was required to pay immediately or spend five months in prison.

Gibaldi, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty to importing 16.6 grams of cannabis after he was arrested at the Airport.

The court heard that Gibaldi flew into Bermuda from New York to celebrate his birthday.

Gibaldi was searched by Police who discovered the marijuana in a zip-lock bag in his underwear.

When asked if the bag belonged to him, Gibaldi said: “Yes It's mine, it's marijuana.”

Gibaldi apologised for the offence and was ordered to pay the $1,500 fine immediately by Mr. Tokunbo.