A Police station duty officer was yesterday found guilty of theft when she appeared in Magistrates' court.

The court heard from Crown counsel Auralee Cassidy that a woman left her BlackBerry at a Bank of Bermuda ATM.

The phone was later handed to station duty officer, Kizwanda Van Putten who never recorded the cell phone as missing, the court heard.

Van Putten then asked another officer to erase information on the cell phone and the officer complied believing it belonged to Van Putten.

However, the owner of the cell phone returned to the Bank of Bermuda to ask about the phone and was told it had been handed in to Police.

When she went to the Police station to enquire, there was no documented evidence of the missing cell phone.

Van Putten was questioned about the matter and she admitted to taking the phone and returned it to the complainant.

The phone had not been damaged other than the information that had been removed.

She told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: "I'm sorry for what I have done, I have never done anything like this before."

In a statement yesterday, a Police spokesman said: "Internal disciplinary proceedings are now underway and the appropriate protocols are being followed at this time.

"The Bermuda Police Service considers this a serious breach of trust and holds our employees to the same standard as the public which we serve.

"New systems are in place to ensure that the public's property is safe while it is in the care of our environments."

Van Putten, who has no previous convictions, was granted bail at $1,000 pending pre-sentencing reports.