inadequate,'' Chief Justice the Hon. Sir James Astwood yesterday sent the man to prison for 12 months.

The Crown's appeal of the suspended sentence given Marvin Lee Woolridge went ahead in the absence of his lawyer after the Chief Justice said he would wait no longer for an answer to Woolridge's application for legal aid.

In December, Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis gave Woolridge a three-month suspended sentence and fined him $1,200 after he pleaded guilty to six counts of theft.

Yesterday, Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun argued that Mr. Francis erred in giving Woolridge a suspended sentence, which is only justified in "exceptional circumstances''.

Woolridge, 29, of Loyal Hill Pass in Devonshire, had admitted stealing handbags and other items from baskets on tourists' cycles after riding alongside them on his own bike.

In all, Woolridge stole cash and articles worth $5,441 in August and September of 1991. Only $3,504 was recovered after his arrest, Mr. Calhoun told the court.

"When the victims are tourists, all of Bermuda suffers,'' he said. "These people are going back to where they're from telling all of their friends how they were preyed upon by crime in Bermuda.

"You need only look at the history of places like Jamaica and Mexico and see what happens to the tourist industry when tourists go down there and are preyed upon by crime.'' Woolridge, who represented himself after lawyer Mr. Archibald Warner withdrew from the case and left the courtroom, said: "I feel that the sentence was adequate.'' He had moved to the United States after committing the crimes and "did not have to come back to Bermuda,'' he told the Chief Justice. "I could have stayed out there the rest of my life and never have to face this crime.'' Woolridge, who has a lengthy record for theft and was described in a probation report as "a smooth talker,'' also said he had turned his life around after abusing drugs for years. "I throw myself on the mercy of the court,'' he said.

The Chief Justice told Woolridge he was lucky Mr. Francis had not sent him up to the Supreme Court for sentencing in the first instance. There he would have faced a maximum four-year sentence on each count of theft over $250, rather than the 12-month maximum he faced in Magistrates' Court.

"Tourism is one of the main planks of our economy,'' he said.

"Consider yourself a lucky man. Don't come back in front of me for stealing from anyone.'' The Chief Justice rejected a request from Mr. Warner to adjourn the case while he awaited word on Woolridge's application for legal aid. The Chief Justice had granted an adjournment and remanded Woolridge in custody three weeks earlier to allow the legal aid application to proceed.

Mr. Warner told the Chief Justice yesterday he still did not have an answer, and had not yet studied the case.

"I'm going ahead,'' the Chief Justice said over Mr. Warner's objections.

"This is not a case for legal aid, and therefore this court should not delay any longer hearing this appeal.'' Mr. Warner said: "In those circumstances, my Lord, I'm left no choice but to withdraw from this matter.'' Woolridge was sentenced to 12 months in prison for each of the four thefts over $250, and six months in prison for the two thefts below that amount. Any time Woolridge has spent in custody was to be taken into account, he said.