Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner listened to a lengthy tirade from a young man charged with driving without due care but still found him guilty and fined him $1,200.

Jaime Ogun Ford, 25, of Tribe Road 5, Warwick, was also fined for leaving the scene of an accident and failing to give his name and number.

The court heard that, on June 24, Ford was driving on Blue Hole Road when he struck a cycle that had stopped to turn into Swizzle Inn. Ford said he only clipped it because he was trying to avoid the bike and overtake it.

The complainant said Ford continued driving but that he caught up with him on Wilkinson Road.

The complainant told the court he tried to call the Police but Ford began yelling at him: ?I?m a Bermudian and you?re an expat, I know where you work and I?ll come back for you.?

Ford said he stopped and gave the man his name and number, but that the complainant was too busy yelling. He said he left the scene because the complainant was ?acting like a young person and ignorant?.

Mr. Warner told Ford it was his responsibility to contact Police because he caused the accident. He went on to say it was not the complainant that was ignorant but Ford.

At this point Ford felt he was getting a raw deal and complained that no one listened to the Island?s youth. Mr. Warner gave the young man a good 20 minutes to vent his frustrations as well as his side of the story. He told the court about his character, his family, his accidents, his financial obligations and his work.

At one point he turned to the complainant and said: ?You?re from a Third World county, you work hard, you should know what it?s like. Just write it off, be a man.?

Once he vented his frustrations, Mr. Warner said it was not true that people don?t listen to the youth, but that Ford had admitted during his evidence that he hit the man while trying to swerve out of the way. He fined Ford $500 for driving without due care, $400 for not stopping at the scene of an accident and $300 for failing to give his name and number after an accident.