options before the courts yesterday when Acting Chief Justice the Hon. Mrs.

Justice Wade jailed him for breaching his probation.

In April last year Sinclair Anthony Simmons, 42, of Pembroke was given a "last chance'' by Mrs. Justice Wade who spared him from four years' prison with a two years probationary sentence after he admitted stealing goods totaling more than $5,000.

But just six months into his probation, Simmons was in trouble again, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

He was sentenced to three years on each count for his original offences and two and a half years on each count for offences committed while on probation .

The sentences will run concurrently.

Crown Counsel Ms Nita Grewal said Simmons had breached the conditions of his probationary order by leaving his fixed address in February.

Simmons pleaded guilty to all five charges which included the theft of a cash box containing $107.50, kitchen knives worth $369.80, a pedal cycle worth $298, a back pack containing personal items, a cassette recorder and a RCA black and white television worth $135 all from Hamilton stores. The offences were all committed between May 5 and July 14.

Mr. Peter Farge, representing Simmons, asked the accused's probation officer why Simmons was only seen by Probation Services in August when it was known he had left his fixed address at His House in February.

"In June and July I was off the Island,'' the officer said. "When I got back I had a note on my desk that Mr. Simmons had been in trouble.'' To fulfil his probation conditions, Simmons was obliged to stay at His House, a Christian home for men that offers drug and alcohol counselling, and abide by its rules until the director felt he had completed the programme there, the officer said.

His House director Mrs. Christine Atcheson said Simmons had started out as an exemplary member of the house but by July it appeared he had fallen back into his drug habit. When he began to break house rules, he was asked if he wanted to stay.

Mrs. Atcheson said that normally residents were there on a voluntary basis but Simmons was the first to be probated to the house.

Before sentencing, Mrs. Wade said it was clear Simmons had breached his probation order.

"The court has given you every opportunity to rehabilitate yourself, but you have failed,'' she said. "The only alternative is to incarcerate you but I urge the prison authorities to help you.''