Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner yesterday fined Reuben Eardley Thomas $300 after finding he obstructed a Police officer in the course of his duty.

Thomas denied obstructing Sgt. Philip Lewis at 10.30 p.m. on September 8 and was tried yesterday morning.

Sgt. Lewis said Thomas approached officers as they placed his friend, VSB journalist Ashfield DeVent, under arrest for obstruction.

Sgt. Lewis said Thomas became very "agitated'' and "made my job that much more difficult'' by interrupting him after being told to leave the scene.

"He said `I ain't obstructing nobody','' Sgt. Lewis said. "He was constantly interrupting me while I was carrying out my duties as a Police officer.'' Mr. Warner said he was "satisfied so that I feel sure'' that Thomas' actions amounted to obstruction under "objective'' review of the evidence before him.

And he noted DeVent was present in the courtroom sitting in the reporter's bench hearing portions of the prosecution's witnesses before giving evidence.

Mr. Warner continued over the protests of prosecutor Crown counsel Graveney Bannister.

But the Magistrate said of the gaffe: "But that's neither here nor there. I don't think that testimony took us anywhere.'' Meanwhile, DeVent appeared before Mr. Warner on Thursday and was given until October 12 to decide what form of preliminary inquiry he wanted in preparation for a Supreme Court case.

DeVent denies a charge of obstruction from that night and opted for the trial before a judge and jury.

Preliminary inquiries are pre-trial hearings on indictable matters in which magistrates decide if there is a prima facie or "on the face of it'' case against an accused person.

Charges can be dropped at the preliminary inquiry stage if a Magistrate feels there is not enough evidence to convict -- or remit it to the higher court.

Short Form PIs are usually a quick formality in which the basic facts, based on written statements, are not challenged while in Long Form PIs witnesses are required to give evidence.