A man sent to prison for breaching his probation has threatened that he would become a murderer when when he came out of jail.

Tewolde Madhin Selassie, 25, of Palmetto Road, Pembroke, appeared in Magistrates' Court because his probation officer said that he had not attended probation meetings or drug assessments at the Bermuda Assessment Referral Clinic (BARC).

After hearing all the facts, Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves sentenced Selassie to 12 months in prison.

As Selassie was being led from the court he said: "When I come out I will be a murderer and then you will have something to lock me up for.

"I will take off heads."

Mr. Greaves said: "Then we will lock you up for longer."

Selassie tried to tell Mr. Greaves that he had been to many of the meetings and that his probation officer had not been there.

But Mr. Greaves said: "If I had been given three years probation for breaking into someone's house in the night time ... If I had been given that chance - I would have been there more than the probation officer, he wouldn't have been sure whether he or I was the criminal."

When Mr. Greaves asked Selassie why he had not attended sessions at BARC, he said: "I felt that I didn't need to go to them any more.

"I was doing OK myself."

Mr. Greaves asked him if he had a degree or if Government was paying him to assess himself.

"When a court orders you to attend certain meetings - you go," said Mr. Greaves.

The court also heard that Selassie did not notify the Probation Services when he quit his job or when he was evicted from his home.

Mr. Greaves said: "The thing I value most in my life is my freedom - it's not wealth or all those things.

"You go to jail and all you see is ugly men and blank walls. I could not go to jail at all."