Bail granted for man charged with attacking two women

A man appeared in court yesterday charged with grievous bodily harm against two women.

Jefferson Lauayne Catlyn, 38, of Mary Victoria Road, Prospect, appeared in Magistrates' Court after assaulting the women in a residence on June 2. Catlyn, represented by lawyer Llewelyn Penniston, was told the matter was an indictable offence to be heard in Supreme Court.

He is alleged to have assaulted Tanya Lovette Catlyn and Charmaine Cann. Magistrate Will Francis told Catlyn he was not required to submit a plea and released him on $2,500 bail with a like surety and he is to return to the court on July 10th.

Catlyn was ordered not to have any contact with the victims as a condition of his bail.

Photojournalist's widow passes

Friends and family are mourning the passing of Emily Saunders, the widow of world-famous Bermudian photojournalist Richard Saunders.

Mrs. Saunders succumbed to cancer over the weekend. She was 82. Her funeral will be held today at 3 p.m. at the Bermuda Cathedral.

Following her husband's death in August 1987, Mrs. Saunders worked with the Bermuda National Gallery to prepare one of their first exhibitions, a selection of Mr. Saunders black and white photographs, which were exhibited in 1993. Mrs. Saunders had also been on the cover of Ebony magazine, photographed by her husband.

Mr. Saunders had been awarded prestigious awards for his work, including United States Information Agency's Superior Honour Award and theInternational Black Photographer's Award. His work has appeared in Life, National Geographic, Ebony and Jet magazines.

Cycle theft warning issued

Police are again warning cycle owners to secure their vehicles following a spate of thefts across the Island.

Police report that cycles have been removed from homes, commercial buildings and cycle bays recently.

They have suggested that individuals invest in an extra lock for the back or front wheel, that they lock the handle bars and also have their vehicles 'U' marked at the Police Vehicle Crime Unit in Prospect.

Woman gets courtroom surprise

A 24-year-old Southampton woman who was an onlooker in Magistrates' Court yesterday ended up appearing before the courts herself.

While waiting for a friend, Olga Perez Simons, of Granaway Heights, Southampton, was recognised by an officer of the court as having outstanding fines. There were warrants out for her arrest as she owed $335. When she stood before Magistrate William Francis she asked: "Can I have time to pay?"

"No, no, no," the magistrate replied. "You've had since last year. Pay now or spend 27 days in jail."

On separate matters, she also pleaded guilty to two speeding offences committed last August and two counts of driving without a driver's license. She was fined a total of $750 and was given until the end of August to pay.

Thief steals cheques, nets $4,000

A thief stole personal cheques valued at around $4,000 from a Pembroke home.

The victim of the scam, who lives on Mount Hill, discovered that the cheques had been stolen after she received her bank statement, Police said. The cheques were cashed between May 31 and June 7, although a Police spokesman said it was not known when they were initially stolen and that inquiries are continuing.

Coins stolen from Southampton home

A thief broke into a Southampton home yesterday, stealing foreign coins and an undisclosed sum of money from a purse.

The Lighthouse Road break-in took place sometime between 2.30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Opposition tracking public opinion

The United Bermuda Party (UBP) has just completed a wide-ranging opinion poll to track the attitudes of Bermudians to a range of issues.

The poll, which the party carries out around twice a year, asked nearly 600 people their attitudes on issues such as crime, education, health and the environment, and their level of satisfaction with government services.

The UBP was not named in the poll and the Opposition may not release all of the results, said party campaign manager David Sullivan. "It has been very successful in reaching a large number of people to track their information on a range of issues," said Mr. Sullivan.

"The questions were very general and were in no way, shape or form pro-UBP or anti-PLP."

Judges, staff abroad on ATI training

Key personnel to Bermuda's new Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) initiative are attending a three-day training conference in the United States this week.

The drug court judges, prosecutors and related civil servants are participating in the 8th Annual Adult Drug Court Training Conference in Washington, DC.

"The Washington conference will allow our drug court facilitators to gain knowledge that will assist in the further development of (ATI) programme," Health and Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome said.

"Some aspects of the conference will encompass legislative changes, observing how drug courts are run in other districts and in depth drug court training in projects aimed at developing more effective drug court policies and procedures."

Attending the conference, which began yesterday are Assistant Justice Archibald Warner, Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves and Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller representing the judiciary, Crown counsels Cindy Clarke and Wayne Caines from the Director of Public Prosecutions office, Senior Probation officer Calvin Ming and Child and Family Services Director Alfred Maybury.

"In order for ATI to be a continued success in Bermuda, there must be ongoing efforts by Government to ensure that all departments involved receive the most comprehensive and up to date training and consultation possible," Mr. Bascome added.

The Washington conference is intended to build on the lessons of an ATI conference held on the Island in March as the initiative was launched locally.

Stiff fine for having cocaine

A 42-year-old Pembroke man is out of pocket $750 after admitting drug charges in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Elvin James Dublin of Glebe Road, pleaded guilty to being in possession of cocaine and obstructing a Police officer.

The court heard that on October 5th last year, plain clothes officers had attempted to stop Dublin for a search. He originally ignored their requests. According to the officers, he appeared to be "rather nervous" and was shaking. Dublin tried to hide a brown paper twist in his mouth, but the twist was recovered by Police, who examined the contents and seized a "cream rock-like substance".

After analysis, the substance was determined to be 82 percent pure cocaine, weighing 0.41 grams, which Dublin claimed was for his "personal use". He was arrested on May 12.

Defence lawyer Veronica Daley told Magistrate William Francis, that the act of obstruction was merely "out of fear".

Mr. Francis fined the man $600 for the cocaine and a further $150 for obstructing Police.