A ?real menace to society? has been jailed for ten years ? and nearly had an extra five years tagged on to his sentence for threatening and swearing at a Puisne Judge.

Coolridge Winslow Eve, 46, of Southampton, was found guilty on Wednesday of stealing $1,000 from a visitor?s wallet from a room at the Reefs resort last April.

In Supreme Court yesterday, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves sentenced Eve to a decade in prison for burglary.

After Eve was given the sentence, he stood up to address the judge.

?I don?t appreciate how you have been disrespecting me,? Eve said. ?I will knock you on your a*s. F*** you.?

Mr. Justice Greaves said he was entitled to sentence Eve to an additional five years for being in contempt of court.

?All you have to do is stop stealing,? the judge said. ?Why do you have to take it out on me because I am doing my job? If you think you can cut my backside go ahead,? Mr. Justice Greaves said.

Lawyer Craig Attridge rushed to his client?s side strongly urging him not to say another word.

After a tense few moments, the judge decided not to cite Eve for contempt and Eve was rushed out of Supreme Court by Prison Officers.

While delivering his sentence, Mr. Justice Greaves called Eve a ?real menace to this society?.

?In this case we have an able-bodied young man with a record so long and atrocious that it takes my breath away,? he said. ?Society can never be safe from the lifting hands of the accused when he is left free to roam.?

He said there were absolutely no mitigating factors in the case.

The judge also pointed out that the crime was made worse because it was committed in the middle of the night and in the bedroom of visitors to Bermuda.

Eve had already served time in jail for similar offences.

In 1996 the habitual criminal was jailed for six years, in 1994 he was sentenced to five years and was given another five year sentence in 2000.

The judge said Eve had not learned his lesson and had continued to commit crimes.

?I therefore sentence you to ten years imprisonment,? he said.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrossen asked for an eight-year sentence while Mr. Attridge asked for a sentence of seven years for his client.