cell and was yesterday fined $25 in Magistrate's Court after pleading guilty to taking a case of beer from the Southampton Princess Hotel.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis heard Charles Joell was working with an outside contractor removing asbestos from the hotel when a case of Bermuda Triangle Warthog beer was discovered missing.

Joell was caught by surveillance cameras taking the beer and was approached by hotel security staff as he was leaving hotel property carrying a black tote bag. Staff found nine bottles of the ale in the bag and an additional 12 bottles on the roof where Joell had been working.

Joell was arrested on Thursday by Somerset Police and taken to the Hamilton Police station where he was held until yesterday's court appearance.

He told Mr. Francis the whole incident was a misunderstanding: "It was an honest mistake. I joked ( with hotel staff) that I wanted some of that old rum. She told me all she had was some old beer that was going to be destroyed.'' He took the beer on that premise he admitted to Mr. Francis.

Duty Counsel Richard Horseman told the court Joell was told by Police if he confessed to the crime he would be released on bail and that amounted to an obvious violation of his rights. He asked Mr. Francis to consider Joell's five-day incarceration as punishment enough.

Mr. Francis fined Joell $25 for the theft, taking into account the time spent in jail.

Outside court, Joell bitterly recounted his treatment at the hands of Somerset Police: "They wanted me to get on my knees, to confess... These two cops from Somerset,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"While I was there I saw about eight people come and go, making bail. One guy was brought in with about ten bags of dope, he was totally gone, spewing all over the place. They let him out in about six hours,'' said Mr. Joell