Eight students from one of Bermuda's top schools were forced to undergo a drugs test after being caught with a joint of cannabis and bottles of beer on a trip to Boston.

The group of boys and girls, who are all members of the same senior class at Mount Saint Agnes Academy, were on an organised break to celebrate their year of graduation when they were caught.

The 17 and 18-year-olds were among a group of 24 students from the school who were staying at a hotel in Boston last month.

They were not reported to Police in the city, instead, the academy chose to handle the situation internally.

Head teacher of the Catholic private school Sister Judith Rollo yesterday defended her decision to deal with the incident herself and said the students concerned had been "severely punished''.

She said she personally discovered what the students were doing during a check on the room after somebody at the hotel complained they were being too noisy.

"We had a situation which was unfortunate, which occurred because of teenage stupidity,'' she said.

"A spliff (cannabis joint) had been provided and given to the group by some college girls that had nothing to do with Mount Saint Agnes.

"They had some beer and when I arrived on the scene most of them had just had one gulp of it. We are talking about a couple of bottles of beer that they had barely touched.'' Sister Judith said each of the eight students, some of whom had been on the honour roll at the school for high academic achievement, were immediately drug tested.

Only one, she said, showed traces of having smoked the cannabis.

"We have dealt with the incident very severely and the eight people involved have received a number of punishments. We did not feel there was need for any law involvement.

"These are 17 and 18-year-olds who did something stupid. Some of them are old enough to drink in Bermuda, but then, of course, the age of consent for alcohol in Boston is 21.

"In Bermuda there are 14-year-olds who drink, but nobody does anything about that. I think people are trying to make gigantic mountains out of little molehills.

"It's a very intelligent class and a very likeable class.'' Among the punishments dished out to the pupils was a further random drug test, which will be carried out at the school's discretion before the end of June.

They were each also ordered to carry out 35 hours of community service, of which they have so far completed 12, and they each must write a 1,500-word essay about making decisions in the light of gospel values and civil law.

Sister Judith, who held a meeting with the governing board about the issue just this week, almost a month to the day since it happened, said parents at the school had been sent a letter informing them of the incident and the punishments given.

"One parent was irate that this had happened and that the Police were not involved,'' added Sister Judith.

"So, I called the hotel to ask, if in fact we had called the Police, what would have happened and was told that nothing would have happened.'' A former pupil of the school, who is planning to send her daughter to Mount Saint Agnes Academy in a few years, heard about the incident and was annoyed that the pupils concerned had not been more severely punished.

She said: "Dabbling with drugs is an offence and I don't think giving the students a few hours community service will do anything.

"There are bad drug problems on the Island and this group of people should have been dealt with properly.'' Inquiries made by The Royal Gazette yesterday proved that had the students been reported to Police in Boston at the time, they may well have been charged with an offence.

James Borghesani, press secretary for the Suffolk County District Attorney Office in Boston, said all of the students were adults in the eyes of US law, which takes a very serious approach to drug use and under-age drinking. The legal age for drinking alcohol in the state is 21.

Mr Borghesani said: "They could well have been charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol. For a first offence, that would probably mean a fine of $50.

"We take a serious approach to the offence and charge people quite often, especially when they are attempting to purchase alcohol in a store.'' However, he said it would have been more difficult to prove an offence where the cannabis was concerned. In a group of people, it is sometimes hard to prove who was in possession of the drug and that everyone else actually knew it was there.