A Bermudian former schoolboy soccer star could face more than ten years in jail without parole if convicted on a charge of carjacking and armed robbery in Atlanta, it was revealed yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office in Atlanta said: "This kind of offence is taken very seriously.

"If convicted, the sentence, at the very minimum, would be ten years to serve -- and they would not be eligible for parole.'' Georgia Institute of Technology police said that Wolde Place, 19, whose family lives in Pembroke, is also charged with possession of a firearm, aggravated assault and possession of marijuana.

And it is alleged Place fired shots at his victim as he tried to run away from the scene.

Place, 19, currently in custody in Fulton County Jail, will appear at Fulton County Magistrates' Court on Monday when a trial date is expected to be set.

According to a Georgia Tech police report, Place, along with two others, was arrested on December 13 after a man was robbed at gunpoint at a set of traffic lights.

The victim, student Fraanje Vandiver, of Atlanta, was unhurt after his ordeal despite two shots being fired at him as he fled the scene.

Mr. Vandiver told police that he had been carjacked near the university and forced to lie on the ground at gunpoint and robbed of his keys and wallet.

A nearby resident who heard shots called police and Place and two others were later stopped and interviewed by officers.

Place and two other men were later arrested and charged with offences in connection with the alleged robbery.

A search of all three men did not uncover Mr. Vandiver's keys or wallet.

But Place, of Peachtree Street, Northeast Atlanta, was also charged with drug offences after officers found material suspected to be marijuana in his wallet.

Place has been held in custody in Fulton County Jail since he and the two other men, believed to be US citizens, were charged.

Place -- who in June last year won an International Business Education Award -- is a former pupil of the Berkeley Institute.

And he is an ex-Secondary Schools All-Star player, turning out for the East against West fixture in 1995.

BERMUDIAN BDA