Attempts to put on trial a man accused of possessing a machete were thwarted yesterday, after a judge said such a move would be ?wasting the court?s time?.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves spoke out after adjourning the case of Terry Eugene Thomas, who attacked two Police officers last summer in Somerset.

Thomas, 48, changed his plea yesterday morning and admitted wounding Pol. Con. Shawn Broomes with intent to do grievous bodily harm, assaulting another Police officer and possessing an offensive weapon ? a metal pipe.

But he denied having a machete in a public place and another charge of assaulting a third officer.

All five charges related to an incident on August 14 last year, on Sound View Road, Sandys.

After hearing Thomas? pleas yesterday morning in Supreme Court, Crown counsel Wayne Caines said he wanted a trial to go ahead on the two not guilty pleas.

But Mr. Justice Greaves said he was ?bewildered? by that request.

Referring to the costs of a trial to taxpayers and pointing out that he had 38 other cases to try, he said he was ?at a loss? to explain why the Department of Public Prosecutions still wanted the Thomas case to go to a jury.

He said it was unusual for the court to ask prosecutors why they had chosen a course of action, before asking Mr. Caines whether he had discussed the case with his ?superiors?.

Mr. Caines said that he had, and that his advice was to proceed with a trial over the two not guilty pleas.

Mr. Justice Greaves, however, said he had a duty to manage the court?s time and asked why a trial should go ahead when the defendant had pleaded guilty to the ?more serious offences?.

Mr. Caines said that the possession of a bladed weapon was a serious offence, with Parliament bringing in tough new sentences to deal with offenders.

Recent cases had seen sentences of three to four years handed out for wounding ? an offence the court heard carries a maximum penalty of ten years ? and Mr. Caines said the Crown had a responsibility to get the maximum penalty for the type of offence before the court.

The maximum sentence for possession of a bladed weapon is seven years, although the offence carries a mandatory five year jail term.

Pol. Con. Broomes received cuts to his head after the attack, although Mr. Justice Greaves said that the other two assaulted officers ? Pol. Con. Corville Hylton and Pol. Con. Smart Akinmola ? were not injured.

The judge, who said that jail terms for each specific offence could only run concurrently to each other and not back-to-back, yesterday decided to adjourn the case for sentencing.

And he said he would not be ?wasting the court?s time? by holding a trial.

He later asked Mr. Caines whether the DPP was ?short of staff?.

Mr. Caines replied: ?The department is adequately staffed.?

Thomas, of Sound View Road, was remanded in custody. His lawyer, Charles Richardson, asked for social inquiry and psychological reports to be prepared.

Mr. Justice Greaves also adjourned a final decision on whether Thomas would be tried on the offences he denied.