more lobsters, some which were undersized, than their daily quota allowed for.

Duane Crockwell, 34, of Euclid Avenue, Pembroke, and Darren Knights, 29, of Palmetto Vale, Smith's Parish pleaded guilty to being concerned together and taking more than two lobsters in a 24-hour period and to catching lobsters which had smaller carapaces than the legal length of 35 inches.

Magistrates' Court heard that a fisheries warden and a Police officer on duty aboard Heron II were patrolling the reef area to the west of Somerset at 3.30 p.m. on September 1 when they came across a 13-foot Boston Whaler.

Crockwell and Knights were diving in the water and there were two coolers in the boat. The coolers were opened and found to contain a total of 15 lobsters.

Four of these were undersized.

When questioned about the catch, Crockwell explained that they caught a number of lobsters when they went diving and then kept the two biggest. They had not meant to take the undersized lobsters, he continued, but his measuring gauge had indicated that they were legally sized.

The lobsters and the men's equipment were seized as evidence. Crown Counsel Leighton Rochester told Senior Magistrate William Francis that the maximum penalty for each offence was a fine of $5,000 or one year's imprisonment or a combination of the two.

Mr. Rochester recommended that Mr. Francis use a $500 fine as a starting point.

Crockwell said he and his accomplice were "caught up in the excitement of the day'' which was why they had taken so many lobsters. However he stressed that they had only intended to keep the two largest lobsters and return the rest to the sea.

He added that he had told the fisheries wardens to return all the lobsters to the sea and he would make a statement about his guilt but the wardens had insisted they needed the shellfish for evidence.

Mr. Francis fined each man $500 for each offence.

DISQUALIFIED FOR DRUNK DRIVING CTS Disqualified for drunk driving A 40-year-old American woman this week pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to driving while impaired.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Police on mobile patrol arrived at a two-vehicle accident on November 1 at 5.30 a.m. on Middle Road near St. Paul's Church in Paget.

The accident involved a black scooter, which was in the middle of the road, and a white Mitsubishi Lancer.

Sgt. Taylor said when Police asked what happened, the male driver of the car told Police he was headed east when the female rider came across the middle line, causing him to strike her.

The female rider, Nikia Vera, 40, of Atlanta, was questioned at which time the officer noticed her breath smelled of alcohol.

When asked if she had been drinking she replied: "Yes.'' Vera was arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station where she agreed to take a breath test.

The test revealed a blood alcohol level of 151 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis fined Vera $350 and banned her from driving all motor vehicles for 12 months.

A Hamilton Parish man pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court this week to driving while impaired.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Police saw Michael H. Burgess, 49, of Radnor Road, swerving on North Shore Road, near Shelly Bay Field, on October 29 at 9.30 p.m.

Burgess was pulled over and questioned by the officers.

When asked if he had been drinking he said: "I had three beers.'' Burgess was arrested and taken to St. George's Police Station and formally charged with driving while impaired.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis yesterday fined Burgess $400 and banned him from driving motorcycles for two years.

Mr. Francis took this approach after Burgess said he would lose his job, if he could not have some form of transportation.

Burgess told the court shift work made it impossible for the bus to be a viable means of transportation for him.

MAN GUILTY OF ILLEGAL PHONE CALLS CTS Man guilty of illegal phone calls A Hamilton Parish man was fined $600 this week after he rang up a long distance phone bill totaling more than $580 on his cousin's phone.

James Craig Walker, 37, of Sunrise Drive, pleaded guilty to the charge of making long distance phone calls to the value of $584.90 with intent to defraud.

Magistrates' Court heard yesterday that Walker was living with his cousin Ruthmary Walker-Koroma in July. When Ms Walker-Koroma went overseas, she told her cousin not to make any long distance calls.

Upon returning she was landed with a $584.90 phone bill for two collect long distance calls and 26 direct overseas calls to a number in Bremerton, Washington.

Walker was charged with the offence but he declined to give a statement at that time.

He told the court that he wanted to pay the bill at Bermuda Telephone Company but was informed by Police officers that he would have to pay his cousin.

He refused to do this, claiming that when he had given his cousin money on a previous occasion for rent she had not used it for this purpose.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis fined Walker $600 and ordered $584.90 to be paid to Ms Walker-Koroma as compensation.

STUDENT GUILTY OF TRAFFIC OFFENCES CTS Student guilty of traffic offences Sixteen-year-old CedarBridge student Graham Arthur John Hollis appeared in Magistrates' Court this week charged with underage riding of an unlicenced and uninsured motorcycle and running away from Police.

Hollis, of Harlem Heights, Hamilton Parish admitted the offences that occurred on October 24.

Sgt. Phil Taylor said that around 3.40 p.m. Police spotted Hollis riding a motorcycle west on Parsons Road at an estimated speed of 65 kph.

When they stopped him they found that the cycle he was travelling on had a sticker dated June 1997.

Hollis told the officers that he had just purchased the cycle from an aunt and proceeded to break free from the Police and run onto Ewing Street.

He was able to elude capture but turned himself in three days later.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis fined Hollis $200 for having no insurance, $100 for the unlicenced bike and for the escaping lawful custody and disqualified driving charges he received a 12 month conditional discharge.