yesterday in Magistrate's Court.

Paula Marguerita Barcoso, also known as Paula De Mello, was charged with working without a permit between January and July of this year.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis was told Barcoso, who arrived on the Island in 1993 and did not have permission to work, was employed two days a week at the Warwick home of Klaus Glusing, at an hourly rate of $12.

Speaking through an interpreter Barcoso apologised for the offence.

Her employer told Mr. Francis he had been employing a Bermudian gardener for about ten years and had tried to find a replacement for his maid, a Bermudian who had recently moved on.

"It is difficult to get people to work as a domestic. I tried Molly Maid, and I tried a Bermudian and it ended on an unhappy note,'' Glusing told Mr.

Francis.

"You're telling me, in this day and age, you can't find somebody to work in Bermuda,'' said Mr. Francis.

"It can be very difficult,'' replied Glusing.

Mr. Francis fined Barcoso $1,000 and Glusing $1,500. He noted the maximum punishment for the offence was $5,000 and three months in jail.