appeared in court for fracturing a man's jaw in two places.

Senior Magistrate Archie Warner agreed to bind over 17-year-old Shaki Minors for a year. This means if he keeps out of trouble, the charge of grievous bodily harm (GBH) against him would disappear altogether.

But if he steps out of line in that 12 months, he will be brought back before the court and sentenced on the original offence again.

Defence counsel Patrick Doherty told the court how the charge of GBH appeared too harsh for the facts of the crime, which happened almost 18 months ago when he was 15.

He said: "What had happened was there was a young man hitting my client's cousin with a bike lock. He (Minors) intervened and hit him once, injuring his jaw.

"He has since apologised to the young man who he punched. He never intended to cause him these injuries.'' Mr. Doherty said his client had pleaded guilty to the charge, even if it had appeared harsh, and had told Police he was ashamed of himself.

He added: "He presently lives with his mother. He works part-time with his uncle in a gardening business and has enrolled to take computer courses.

"A custodial sentence would not be in this man's best interests.'' The attorney told the court how Minors had "turned himself in'' after failing to pay fines for traffic offences last year and failing to attend court to be sentenced for the GBH charge at the end of last year.

He added: "He turned himself in on the warrants and is prepared to face the music.'' Mr. Warner agreed that the evidence suggested Minors' story about the punch was true and said it did appear harsh, but said that was no excuse for failing to appear in court for sentencing or paying fines.

He ordered Minors pay the fines totalling $1,500, and disqualified him from the roads for a year.