A homeless man charged with trespassing in the Washington Mall had a case against him dismissed in Magistrates' Court.

Eugene Darrell, 52, entered the Hamilton property, owned by Bermuda Limited, on Wednesday.

He is alleged to have disobeyed a previous notice banning him from the premises.

According to Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney, Darrell was seen in the building this week and the matter was reported to Police.

Darrell said: "I don't remember getting a letter but if I did I am sorry. I just went in there to get a soda that is all I did."

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said the mall was a public place and anyone could walk through it. According to him, if Darrell had gone in there and committed an offence he would see just cause to prosecute him.

But he said he had no authority to ban someone from a public place. He likened the move to segregation.

Mr. Warner said: "I can't ban people just like in the old days [when] people banned black people just because they were black. If he commits an offence then by all means prosecute him.

"If the Corporation of Hamilton says he can't go in the park, he can't go there too? This court has much more busy things to deal with. If the Crown doesn't like my attitude he can spend some more money and appeal it."

The case against Darrell was thrown out and he was allowed to leave court.