Driver hurt, cars damaged after horses bolt

A carriage driver was believed to have a suspected broken leg last night after his horses bolted in a residential street - only coming to a halt after they hit a church wall.

Police, fire and SPCA officers were called out to St. John's Road in Pembroke at about 8.30 p.m., where they found the horses tangled up in their harness and their carriage severely damaged. It is believed the carriage driver had tied his horses to a pole on Woodlands Road, near to the junction of Euclid Avenue.

The horses are then said to have bolted along Euclid Avenue, colliding with a number of stationary cars in their path, coming to rest after they hit the wall of St. John's Church, at the other end of Euclid Avenue. The carriage driver was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, where he was believed to have received treatment for a broken leg. The Royal Gazette was told last night that no passengers were thought to have been in the carriage at the time, and no one else was hurt.

When assistance arrived on the scene, the horses were suffering from shock and minor cuts and abrasions, but were not thought to have sustained any serious injuries. Police inquiries were continuing last night.

Roberts to be sentenced tomorrow

Drugs convict Kirk Roberts will be sentenced tomorrow as prosecutors gather evidence to recover his assets.

In Supreme Court yesterday, Crown counsel Shade Subair said the Crown had applied under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize assets from the 40-year-old Sandys resident.

Prosecutors are also seeking to get documents from Roberts' civil lawyer Christine Hoskins to help them in their search.

Roberts was in court for mention for sentencing, but the Crown was not in position to proceed. He was represented yesterday by Mark Pettingill who told Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller that Roberts was "not some big drug controller" as made out by the prosecution. Roberts was found guilty along with Vincentian Alphonso Holder of conspiring, with others not before the court, to import hundreds of pounds of cannabis to Bermuda between a date unknown and December, 2000. The drugs were on board a sailboat which carried the drugs

While the drugs were not found, they would have brought in more than $2 million on the streets of Bermuda. Holder - who admitted he arrived in Bermuda illegally shortly after being caught - was jailed for four years.

Double trouble for wobbly couple

Good police work nabbed two cycle riders on suspicion of impaired driving on Saturday - when they switched positions after an encounter with officers at a road closure.

Police had diverted the couple - with the woman as pillion passenger - onto Parson's Lane from Devonshire Road because of a road closure. Officers noted they almost hit the kerb in making the turn.

A few minutes later the couple reappeared coming out of Parson's Lane, but this time the woman was riding the livery cycle.

They were pulled over and Police report they could smell alcohol on the pair's breath - and they were arrested on suspicion of impaired driving.

Man taken off Amsterdam flight

A man on board KLM flight 742 was rushed to hospital with chest pains on Saturday morning.

The flight originated in Aruba and was en route to Amsterdam when the flight was diverted to the Island. The plane is understood to have left the Island shortly after. They were met by Police and an ambulance crew and the 51-year-old man was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The man's condition in hospital is not known.

Rash of cycle thefts, break-ins

More than 15 motorbikes were stolen over the weekend, while Police also received reports of 12 break-ins across the Island.

Of the 12 break-ins, two were in Sandys Parish, two in Southampton, two in St. George's, two in Hamilton Parish, three in Pembroke and one was in Paget.

Hung jury in drugs smuggling case

A Dutchman accused of importing over 700 grammes of cocaine into the Island last year, went to Westgate Correctional Facility last night pondering his fate after a jury could not agree whether or not he was guilty.

Throughout his week-long trial, Eddy Franklyn Feliciana, 43, denied intentionally bringing the drugs, valued just over $192,000, into Bermuda on December 21 last year - although they were discovered in his digestive system. After close to five hours of deliberating yesterday, the jury foreman told Assistant Justice Archibald Warner that the six-man, six-woman jury could not agree on the verdict, and additional time would not assist in their decision-making.

"Then there will be a retrial," said Mr. Warner.

He remanded Feliciana in custody. He is expected to appear in the next Supreme Court arraignment session on September 3.

Scuba diver suffers asthma attack

A scuba diver who complained of chest pains after a dive was taken to hospital on Friday but was found to have suffered an asthma attack.

A Police spokesman said the man dove to ten feet and when he returned to the boat he was fine, but after ten minutes he became short of breath and collapsed. He was met on Somerset Road by Marine Police and an ambulance crew and was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and was later released. Police report he was not put in a decompression chamber.

Police get new media spokesman

The appointment of the new media and public relations officer for the Bermuda Police Service was announced yesterday.

The successful candidate was Robin Simmons, who has a Masters of Arts Degree in Mass Communications. Mr. Simmons previously worked as a journalist for the Bermuda Broadcasting Company.

Fourways Inn earns top prize

Conde Nast Johansens is to recommend the Fourways Inn in its 2003 Guide to North American Hotels, Inns and Resorts.

The Paget cottage colony, owned by the Little Venice Group, has earned the recommendation after the publication's testers spent months assessing hotels and inns.

"It is truly a reflection of its impressive hospitality," said Lesley O'Malley-Keyes, Conde Nast Johansens' vice-president and publisher North America.