A man who robbed a cruise ship worker in May of 110 rupees will spend the next two years behind bars.

Kino Masakia Outerbridge, 33, of 2 Cochrane Road, Sandys, pleaded guilty to robbing Harsakumar Panda of his I-95 US immigration form, 110 rupees (about US $2.38) and approximately $550 in cash.

Crown counsel Wayne Caines told Supreme Court that at 4.30 a.m. on May 11, Mr. Panda left the to approach Outerbridge and another man to ask them for the location of a payphone.

The men were near the area of Victoria Park when the defendant and his accomplice, "without provocation or warning attacked the complainant by fiercely grabbing him around his arms and chest and pushing him down to the ground," Mr. Caines said.

"As he lay pinned face down ...one of the defendants removed the complainant's money purse from his rear pants pockets while the other restrained the complainant," he said.

On May 12, Outerbridge was arrested and detained at Hamilton Police station where he subsequently admitted robbing Mr. Panda, walking away with half of the spoils of the raid ? around $200.

The I-95 form and 110 rupees notes were returned to Mr. Panda before the sailed out of Bermuda.

Outerbridge's accomplice was acquitted in a previous Magistrates' Court session.

Mr. Caines said the crime was serious as "a cruise ship worker was set upon by two members of our society and robbed."

As Outerbridge had no representation, it was left to the Crown to bring to light the mitigating circumstances in his case.

In relation to Outerbridge's heroin and cocaine addiction Mr. Caines said, Outerbridge had "raised his hand and asked for help".

He also said that Outerbridge's guilty plea and assistance to Police during their investigation should be taken into consideration during sentencing.

"However, a strong message needs to be sent to this defendant that such behaviour will not be tolerated in this community," Mr. Caines added.

The maximum sentence for the offence is ten years.

Puisne Justice Charles-Etta Simmons said: "Visitors and residents have a right to walk the streets in safety. People like you shatter the illusion of Bermuda as a paradise. The courts have a responsibility to remove people like you to prison.

"I sentence you to two years imprisonment and following your return to society a probation order of one year," Mrs. Justice Simmons said.

"Today is the best day of your life," she told him.