put at stake before a foreigner, charged with importing close to $60,000 worth of cocaine, can be released on bail. Thirty-one-year-old Keith Faulkner, of New Jersey, US, was charged on January 12 with cocaine importation, possession with intent to supply and forgery. He opted for a Supreme Court trial and was remanded in custody.

Faulkner on January 12, faced the charges with a co-accused 18-year-old Amber Davis, also of New Jersey, who readily admitted she was guilty claiming to have been "duped and used as a patsy''. She received a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Faulkner appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday for mention, flanked by his father, a church minister, who flew to the Island from the US and some friends.

His lawyer, Lawrence Scott, after learning that the prosecution were not ready to present the papers on his client, insisted that Faulkner be released on bail.

After lengthy submissions, Mr. Francis ruled that Faulkner could be bailed if he produced two sureties of $20,000, a fixed Bermuda address, report daily to the Police, and surrender all his travel documents.

Faulkner is slated to return to court for mention in two weeks.

MEN DENY ACT OF `GROSS INDECENCY' CTS Men deny act of `gross indecency' Two men yesterday denied charges that they committed an act of gross indecency on Long Bay Beach in Warwick last month.

Appearing in the plea session of Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 44-year-old Wayne Scott Sims, of Mariposa Drive in Southampton, and 54-year-old Michael Trott, of Warehouse Lane in Pembroke, were each released on $500 bail.

The case will be mentioned on February 9.

PEMBROKE CHURCH BROKEN INTO CRM Pembroke church broken into Even a church is not immune to crime a thief proved recently by breaking into the House of Prayer on Gospel Lane in Pembroke.

A church representative told Police that the thief probably entered the building between Sunday evening and Monday morning and made off with a Peavey speaker and a Panasonic tape deck.

In other Police news yesterday, a spokesman reported that the Exclusive Beauty Salon on Court Street, Pembroke, was broken into recently and a Panasonic stereo and an Endis electric hair cutter were taken.

He said the crime probably occurred sometime over the last couple of days, but was not reported until Tuesday.

And a Miamba Lane, Fairylands residence was broken into on Tuesday and jewellery was taken from a drawer.

MAN FINED FOR ASSAULT CTS Man fined for assault A Warwick man has been fined $400 after he admitted assaulting the mother of his child.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis yesterday heard that Michael Earl Roberts had grabbed his victim by the neck and began choking her when she returned to her house from an overseas trip on May 24 last year.

But Roberts, who lives at Spicelands Riding Centre in Warwick, said he had only held the woman and had not intended her harm although the court heard that she had suffered bruising to her neck during the incident.

Roberts, 33, also said he thought the victim had withdrawn the charge.

But Mr. Francis said: "When people make these sorts of charges it's taken over by the Police and the Department of Public Prosecutions. You can't drop the charges -- the only place that can do that is the DPP.

"It's serious and I hope you will take a warning from this.''