Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher yesterday questioned the reliability of statements after claiming her client was not given a food break during long interviews over drug importation.

She told Magistrates' Court that defendant Yagustanta Bramada, who worked aboard the Zenith cruise ship, was given a plate of food, but was expected to eat it while under caution and being interviewed at Hamilton Police Station.

And she said the fact that he had been given food was never included in the statement.

She also alleged that Bramada's first language was not English and so he could not fully understand all of the questions put to him by officers.

Bramada, 23, from Indonesia, is on trial along with Lennox Lorraine Afflick, 40, from Jamaica, accused of importing and handling $57,250 worth of cocaine in July this year.

They both deny the charges.

The two men were working as bakers aboard the Celebrity Cruise Line ship when they were arrested by officers during an operation on July 24.

A third man, construction worker Clinton Alphonso Wright, who is a Jamaican resident in Bermuda, has already been jailed for four years after pleading guilty to handling the 240.3 grammes of cocaine.

His mother has lived in Bermuda for more than 30 years and he has a Bermudian wife and newborn child.

All of the men were held for four days for questioning by officers before being officially charged with the offences on July 28.

The legal holding period for officers to question suspects before charges are laid is usually 72 hours.

Both Bramada and Afflick were not notified that they could apply for Legal Aid and seek professional legal help until they first appeared in court.

Yesterday, Ms Christopher confirmed for the court that one of the interviews Bramada was put through lasted a total of six hours and 35 minutes.

And she suggested that Bramada had been held for such a long period of time, he began to smell of body odour. As a Muslim, she said, it was against his religion to pray in that kind of state.

The barrister said to Customs Officer Wanda Francis, who was sitting through the interview, which was being carried out by a Special Police constable: "I put it to you that he did not eat food during the interview. He received it, but he did not eat it because he was not given a break.

"They (suspects) should be given a break to eat food and it should be noted.'' She said it was up to the presiding judge to decide what the impact would be if a suspect had not actually being given a break for food.

The Customs officer replied that Bramada did begin to eat the food and said they had just started the interview so saw little point in stopping it.

And Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said: "There is no mandatory requirements about breaks for food. They must be provided with refreshments, but there is nothing about breaks.

"I agree there are rules that should be observed and, of course, the discretion of whether or not the breach of those rules result in the exclusion of evidence is down to the Judge, but it depends on a whole lot of discretionary matters.'' Witness Ms Francis told the court she did not notice any body odour coming from Bramada.

She also said the suspect appeared to understand clearly what was being asked of him and she had no idea that English was not his first language.

She said at no point did anybody raise their voice to Bramada throughout the interview, as alleged, but she admitted that nobody had offered Bramada any of his seized cash back to enable him to hire a lawyer.

But she added: "I would not agree that he spoke broken English. It was obvious that English was not his first language.

"The only thing he asked was what free will meant. I do not think that is a classic example of someone being unable to understand what is said to him.'' Victoria Pearman represents Afflick and Juan Wolffe is prosecuting for the Crown.

The case continues.