A man has chosen an addiction recovery programme rather than a general prison sentence for a stealing spree.

Father-of-four Stephen Frederick Cann, also known as Adib Abdul-Jabbar, pleaded guilty in January to stealing a crowbar and four hammers worth $123 from Hasco Construction at the Lines Brothers construction site on November 16.

He used the tools to break into the Harnett & Richardson offices, where he stole a custom-made football jersey, a T-shirt from Makin' Waves, and $3 in cash from JB Astwood & Son, all on Front Street.

Cann, 47, of no fixed abode, was spotted the next day wearing the custom made jersey, by its owner, on Front Street.

He told Chief Justice Austin Ward: "Cocaine has been my nemesis. I have received treatment all over Bermuda. But I have been going to the emergency room when I should have been going to surgery.'' This week, Mr. Justice Ward warned Cann that if he did not enter the Toronto Salvation Army's Harbour Light addiction treatment programme or tested positive for drugs while in it, he would be remanded in prison until November 1999.

Cann opted to enter the Prison Services' Offenders Substance Abuse Pre-release Programme (OSAPP) when it is launched in the near future.

Mr. Justice Ward told Cann that he could opt for a regular prison sentence or have the sentence suspended while in the programme.

He added that after entering OSAPP, Cann would be transferred into the Bermuda Salvation Army's Harbour Light programme pending approval of a visa application for entry into Canada.

"I cannot order them (Canadian Immigration) to take you,'' Mr. Justice Ward told Cann, "but the local Harbour Light will work on your case.''