industry, Bermuda's top judge said yesterday.

Chief Justice Austin Ward was speaking as he sentenced career criminal Anthony Swan to a seven-year stretch after a jury found him guilty of stealing a handbag from a guest house and assaulting a Police officer who later arrested him for the theft.

Swan, 37, who has a string of previous convictions dating back nearly 20 years and who has been previously sentenced to a total of 27 years in prison, pleaded for mercy before being sentenced.

He told the court he became a cocaine addict while in prison and was now hooked on heroin.

But Swan, who admitted never seeking professional help to combat his drug habit, said he had never been offered any help to beat addiction while serving previous sentences.

And he claimed after he finished a jail term in the 80s, he went on a downward spiral of crime to pay for drugs.

Swan said: "After I came out, my activity was based on fast money to support my addiction.'' Chief Justice Austin Ward rejected an application by Crown Counsel Charlene Scott for preventative detention -- a special sentence allowing a jail term of up to 14 years.

Instead, he sentenced Swan, of Rockaway Estates Southampton, to seven years for the burglary and two-and-a-half years for the Police assault, the sentences to run concurrently.

And Mr. Justice Ward repeated earlier calls for the Prison Service to probe the availability of drugs in prisons.

He told Swan: "What you said about receiving heroin in prison is very disturbing and I hope the authorities will address this.'' Mr. Justice Ward added: "I don't see how you could feed a drug addiction in prison and keep on them all the time without fee or reward -- but this is something for the prison authorities to investigate.'' The jury found that Swan broke into Hamilton's Oxford Guest House on November 12, 1996, and stole a handbag and contents worth $211 from a visiting couple.

They also found that Swan assaulted a plainclothes Police officer who arrested him after the offence.

Mr. Justice Ward said Swan "blames the judicial system for the plight he finds himself in.'' But he added: "He has not publicly acknowledged his own responsibility for his failings.'' And Mr. Justice Ward pointed out that drug treatment programmes were available to prisoners.

He added: "I also make a recommendation that accused will be provided with such treatment as necessary for his drug addiction.''