A young man was accused of attempted murder and stealing in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Dekimo Martin, 18, of no fixed abode, was charged with the attempted murder of Dennis Kent Simmons on July 15, 2004 in Pembroke.

Because the charge is to be tried in Supreme Court, Martin did not have to enter a plea.

Martin was also charged with stealing a handbag on July 15, 2004 in Pembroke.

Crown counsel Wayne Caines said the blue bag contained a Kodak camera, shoes, suntan lotion and water toys, all with a value of $98.

Martin denied the theft charge and his defence counsel, Elizabeth Christopher, made an application for bail on both charges. Mr. Caines objected to bail because of the seriousness of the crime.

The maximum penalty for attempted murder was 20 years in prison, he said.

The case was adjourned until Monday when Martin's aunt could appear in court to prove that she could support the defendant until his Supreme Court trial.

Ms Christopher told Magistrate Edward King he made a wise decision.

"Wise men come from the east," Mr. King said. "And Barbados is the most easterly of the lot."

Acting Magistrate Mark Pettingill dismissed a case yesterday because "of lack of evidence in regard to the identification at the ID parade."

The incident centres on Hass Panda, who is a cook aboard the cruise ship , who identified Jay Chantey Ming, of Pembroke, as the man that stole his wallet on May 11. The identification took place at the Prospect Police Club. Four groups of men were paraded before Mr. Panda. He eventually picked out Ming, but told Police he wasn't sure Ming was the man.

English is Mr. Panda's third language and it was noted that Police had difficulty interviewing him because of the language barrier. In particular he did not know the correct word for 'muscles', using the word 'moustache' instead.

The Crown's only evidence was the ID parade and Mr. Pettingail ruled that the identification would not hold up if put before the Supreme Court.

He also commented that Bermuda would benefit ?f: "a more modern appropriate facility is made available for the conduct of this very important identification process".

An American banker caught importing cannabis was fined $1,000 in Magistrates' Court, yesterday.

David Richard Barnett, 44, of 28021, Manhattan Street, St. Clair Shores, Michigan arrived in Bermuda at 3.15 p.m. on August 3, on a flight from Newark, New Jersey.

Crown counsel Wayne Caines said Barnett had collected his luggage and was on his way to the Customs hall, when a drug-sniffing dog was attracted to the left front pocket of his trousers.

Nine home-made cigarettes were found in a plastic bag in his pocket.

The bag was given to a Police narcotics officer.

Barnett told him the cigarettes contained cannabis. He also admitted to knowing they were illegal here.

He was taken to the airport Police station, where he was bailed to appear in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The Government analyst said he brought in 4.01 grams of the drug.

Barnett apologised for the whole incident and said he had a legal prescription to smoke marijuana in the US.

Magistrate Edward King told him: "If you know you can't bring it (and need your prescription) you can't go to Bermuda with it."

A 17-year-old boy was charged for receiving stolen items and knowing that they were stolen.

Crown counsel, Cindy Clarke informed the court that between the 14th and the 22nd of May William Lightbourne received a 28-inch diamond cut gold chain and a gold capped shark tooth.

Lightbourne was taken to Hamilton Police station on another matter but was questioned about the items when Police noticed the jewellery, which had been reported stolen.

In court Lightbourn changed his plea: "I'm guilty with an explaination, I didn't know it was stolen... not guilty your honour... guilty, guilty , I'm guilty" he told Magistrate Edward King.

Lightbourne denied that he robbed the complainant of his jewellery, which was valued at $1150.

"You need to be saved from a life of crime" he was told by Mr. King.

"You're not old enough to go to the departure lounge for Westgate."

Lightbourne was remanded into custody after receiving a sentence of nine months in corrective training.

A passenger aboard the cruise ship was fined for possession of marijuana in Magistrates' court.

Luann Ivany, a 48-year-old Massachusetts resident, was arrested on August 3 when Police searched her cabin and found 35 home made cigarettes and 15 partly smoked home made cigarettes all containing a loose plant material.

Ivany was taken to the Police station under suspicion of drug possession and questioned. After analysis Police found that the loose plant material was 24.6 grams of cannabis.

Ivany told Police that she brought the marijuana to Bermuda from Boston for her personal use.

Ivany told the court: "I regret that I broke the rules and I am very sorry. It will not happen again."

Mr. King fined her $1,000.