Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves yesterday said Bermuda's courts were ill-equipped to deal with criminals with mental problems.

He suggested a round table, involving court professionals, psychological and psychiatric experts, and politicians, be set up to find a solution that would give courts more power and choice in dealing with this kind of defendant.

He said at present, St. Brendan's had power to choose who was accepted into its facility.

''I can't make them take men that I think need help," said the magistrate.

"In the end, all St. Brendan's has to say is 'we don't want him. He's not fit for us', and he's back out on the street.

''There is a problem of what to do with people who appear to need psychiatric help and are still making themselves a menace to society.''

Mr. Greaves explained there were many issues surrounding those with mental illnesses.

He said the development of the drug culture had led to more homeless and mentally-impaired people. Also the pressures of modern society had caused people to "flip out", he said.

And he added that the solution to the problem would not be a quick one.

''It's not easy to find a judicial solution to the problem. It must be studied carefully.

Mr. Greaves spoke out after hearing the case of Kevin Daniels, who was in Magistrates' Court yesterday after pleading guilty to damaging a woman's car while she sat inside it.

Mr. Greaves said Daniels had a number of previous convictions, as well as recommendations for psychiatric reports, but said the law limited his ability to effectively deal with people with mental problems.

He said many jurisdictions in the United States had mental courts that could order treatment.

However, in Bermuda, the courts could not demand any specific treatment. He said: ''There are a lot (of mental courts) in the US and they have a lot of power. They can put people through programmes like the drug courts put them through. 'They can also order them to be put into an institution, and the institution would have to take them.''

Although Mr. Greaves felt that Bermuda did not have the capacity for a mental court, he said the jurisdiction of courts could be expanded to increase the power of the magistrate.

And he said that it could possibly be considered as part of the Alternative to Incarceration programme.

The court heard how Daniels, 41, of Orchard Grove, Pembroke, forcefully attempted to get into a woman's car as she sat inside it. Mr. Greaves remanded him in custody for an assessment at St. Brendan's Hospital to be carried out.

Prosecutor Wayne Caines told the court that Theresa Furbert arrived at Hamilton Police Station at 7.20 p.m. on August 1. She told officers that Daniels had approached her car, which was parked in the Par-la-Ville car park, while she was talking on her cell phone.

He is alleged to have stood close to her driver's side window, trying to get her attention before then trying to open the door.

When he realised the car was locked, he repeatedly hit the glass with the metal end of an umbrella, creating two large indents into the car frame, and continued the attack until Ms Furbert drove off.

The damage was estimated to be worth $359.

Police arrested Daniels on Wednesday this week for the offences.

Daniels had also faced a charge of threatening behaviour, which he pleaded not guilty to.

That charge was dropped after the crown offered no evidence.

Looking at Daniels' previous record, Mr. Greaves said: ''You look like you invented convictions. You're a dangerous man and you terrorised that woman.''

Mr. Greaves later told The Royal Gazette that sending Daniels to prison would have been a waste of time due to the nature and extent of his previous convictions.

''It would be good to have something on the statute books that could deal with him and others like him.''

He said the present method of remanding a person to psychological or psychiatric institution was complicated in Bermuda and many other Commonwealth countries.

''One of the drawbacks of the laws in a lot of Commonwealth counties is that they are fairly old. They were tinkered with more recently, but that simply limited the power of the magistrate when it should have been increased.''