Magistrates' Court this week. Annon Adams, 67, of Loyal Hill, Devonshire pleaded guilty to breaching the Public Holidays Act by trading from his store on December 25 last year.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Donald Grant said officers visited Our Food Variety on Court Street acting on information received.

They found people in the store and Adams at the cash register, Sgt. Grant said. But Adams refused to close up shop although he admitted he knew he was breaking the law.

He told the court he had opened the store every Christmas for the past 20 years because he needed the business.

"I thought I had squatters' rights,'' said Adams who has one similar previous conviction dating back 25 years. Senior Magistrate the Wor. William Francis fined him $100.