guilty yesterday in Magistrates' Court to four counts of cheque fraud.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Allan D. Minors, 39, of Train Lane, in Pembroke stole three Bank of Butterfield cheques from a chequebook in his wife's purse on July 29.

Sgt. Taylor said Minors -- who was charged with stealing three cheques, forging, uttering and obtaining money through false pretences, two counts of knowingly uttering false documents, and one count of uttering a false cheque -- took the three cheques to Esso gas station on Dundonald Street where he obtained gas and cigarettes and spent the rest of the money on drugs and alcohol.

He also told the court the stolen cheques belonged to his wife's work place, the Fenton Drive Group Home, and were taken by Minors as she slept.

Duty counsel Tyrone Chin told Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp that Minors had been drinking everyday and he had been on a drug binge since the death of his mother.

And Mr. Chin said Minors was the one who brought the theft of the cheques to his wife's attention and told her she had to call the Police and report it to her boss.

He added that Minors had sought help from Salvation Army's Harbour Lights Programme in the past and wished to seek help from them now.

However, Mrs. Mapp told Minors: "If your mother died in May and you've been on a drug binge since then, Harbour Lights really did you no good.'' Mrs. Mapp sentenced him to three months in prison for stealing the cheques, three months for forging them, six months for uttering the cheques and nine months for obtaining money with a false cheque. The sentences are to run concurrently.

MAN FINED FOR USING OFFENSIVE WORDS CTS Man fined for using offensive words A 20-year-old Paget man yesterday pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to using offensive words.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said a doorman at Oasis Nightclub on Front Street flagged down officers at 1.10 a.m. on July 15 about an incident that occurred downstairs of the club.

When the officers approached, they saw Aaron F. Hassell, 20, of South Road, Paget, on the ground being retained by another club doorman.

Sgt. Taylor said Hassell had tried to get into the club for free and when he was told he could not he became hostile then a fight ensued between he and the doorman.

During the struggle the window of a nearby cigar shop, Tienda de Tobacco, was smashed as Hassell tried to punch the doorman and missed.

Sgt. Taylor said Police arrested Hassell at which time he yelled: "F*** all of you.'' And when he was cautioned about his language he replied: "You f***ing little white boys are nothing but motherf***ing a**holes.'' He was then taken to Hamilton Police Station where he was formally charged with using offensive words.

Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp ordered Hassell to pay a $200 fine for the offence.

MAN GRILLED ON BARBECUE THEFT CTS Man grilled on barbecue theft A man who claimed he took a barbecue as a favour to a woman pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court yesterday to stealing it.

Police prosecutor Sgt. Phil Taylor said Wendall G. Fox, 41, of Water Street, St. George's, was seen by two Shelly Bay MarketPlace cashiers stealing a Sunbeam Deluxe Barbecue from the store on July 7 at 6 p.m. Fox put the item in a car, which was waiting for him outside of the store, and he and the driver drove away.

Sgt. Taylor said Police picked up Fox on July 8 at 11.30 p.m. near Water Street and took him to St. George's Police Station where he was questioned and then released.

But, Sgt. Taylor added, the following day Fox entered the Police Station and said: "I Wendall Fox went to the MarketPlace and took the barbecue alone. No one else had anything to do with it.'' Yesterday Fox said he thought he was doing a favour for a woman at the MarketPlace. He said the woman told him she lived in St. David's and had no way of getting the barbecue home.

Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp told Fox to watch who he did favours for and then fined him $250 for the theft.

TRIAL POSTPONED UNTIL AUTUMN CTS Trial postponed until autumn A Smith's Parish man who allegedly removed boulders from his neighbours' property, in a bid to shield his home from hurricanes, yesterday had his trial postponed until the fall.

Peter Prescesky, of Saucos Hill and a lawyer for Island Construction, John Cooper, appeared in Magistrates' Court in April regarding Prescesky's attempt last summer to build a seawall to protect his front yard.

The Environment Ministry, at the time, ordered a stop to the construction of a three-deck concrete retaining wall after allegations that Prescesky stole natural boulders from his neighbours and was destroying their foreshore.

Prescesky, who had obtained a Planning permit to restore his shoreline after it was damaged by a hurricane, failed to notify inspectors that the work was in progress.

Due to that omission, regular inspections of the project were not carried out.

The controversy came to a head when area residents noticed heavy equipment operating along the waterfront and lodged complaints.

Yesterday Acting Senior Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp adjourned the matter until November 17.