20-year-old Portuguese man who was working without permission.

And Fillipe Miguel Ferreira, and the man who hired him, Joe Lopes, were fined $500 and $3,000 by Acting Senior Magistrate Edward King who said "a message must be sent'' telling employers to get permission before hiring.

Lopes, 50, is from Ord Road, Warwick, and Ferreira is living with his parents on North Shore Road, Pembroke.

Ferreira has permission to reside in Bermuda and seek work but does not yet have permission to work. Neither man had any previous convictions.

Mr. King heard that Lopes hired Ferreira "to try him out'' as a construction worker before going for Immigration permission on February 24.

Crown counsel Charmaine Smith said authorities later swooped on the Agar's Island building site and saw Ferreira holding a window frame.

He admitted he did not have permission to work and said he thought Lopes was having one processed.

Ms Smith added: "Lopes was questioned and said he took Ferreira on to try him out to see if he had skills to work.'' While there was no mention of payment, he did intend to pay Ferreira at the rate of $14 an hour.

The maximum penalty for working without permission is a $5,000 fine and/or three months in prison.

Mr. King told Lopes: "I take into consideration your guilty plea and your erstwhile clean record.

"But I must send a deterrent message to anybody considering this,'' he continued. "Check out the employee before you hire. If they don't work out you can always fire them. But go through Immigration.'' SEPTEMBER TRIAL DATE SET FOR SEX CHARGES CTS September trial date set for sex charges A St. George's man will be tried in September for three charges which relate to two alleged sexual assaults on a woman that occurred in successive days.

The man denied the charges of breaking and entering and committing a sexual assault on May 16 and another sexual assault on May 17.

He further denies that between May 16 and 17, whether by spoken word or conduct, he threatened the woman with a knife with the intent to cause her alarm.

When the charges were put to him, the man said: "False lies. B******t. She's a prostitute, a crack head. I have a lot of witnesses. If I go down, she goes down.'' Acting Senior Magistrate Edward King responded: "Sir, there is not a dairy and no farm in here. And we'll see about the rest.'' Mr. King set bail at $5,000 with one like surety. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, must report to St. George's Police Station between 8 a.m.

and 8 p.m. and have no contact with the complainant.

CONVICTED DRUG SMUGGLER WITHDRAWS APPEAL CTS Convicted drug smuggler withdraws appeal A convicted drug smuggler, who was imprisoned for six-and-a-half years for importing almost $200,000 worth of cannabis into the Island, withdrew his Supreme Court appeal because he did not have legal representation.

Terry Eugene Darrell, 43, was found guilty in a February Supreme Court trial of importing and possessing a controlled drug.

During the trial, the jury heard how Darrell brought a crate into the Island while moving his business from Florida to Bermuda -- and Customs officers were tipped off that the base of the crate contained drugs. Darrell told the Court of Appeal: "I'm still unrepresented, and I think it's in my best interests to abandon the appeal.

"I feel this is a case for me to have legal representation, and I'm not prepared to do it on my own.''