from a friend over the Christmas holidays.

Herculano Arruda, 27, of Bostock Hill, pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The offence occurred on Christmas Day in Southampton.

Police prosecutor Insp. Peter Duffy, said Arruda visited Patricia Hill at her home on Church Road and went into the bathroom around 2.30 p.m.

Hill checked the bathroom because she had left $2,286 in a bag which was part of the earnings from her business. She intended to deposit the money in the bank after the holidays.

He had removed $700. She contacted a Police officer who lived nearby and he found Arruda near the Southampton Post Office. The officer accompanied Arruda back to Hill's home.

She confronted him and he threw the money onto a bed.

Hill was able to recognise the money because she had marked it. At the Somerset Police Station, Arruda admitted stealing $700 from Hill on Boxing Day and $20 on Christmas Day which he used to buy cigarettes.

Magistrate the Wor. Cheryl Ann Mapp ordered a social inquiry report and set the matter down to February 23 for sentence. Arruda was released on $500 bail.

In a separate matter, Arruda pleaded guilty to riding an auxiliary cycle while disqualified on New Year's Day.

Police stopped him near the Lane in Paget and a check revealed he was off the road until April 6, 1996.

"You certainly didn't have a good Christmas or New Year's,'' Mrs. Mapp said.

"But with your history you are playing with your liberty.

She fined him $500 and took him off the road until January 16, 1997.