A soldier was fined $1,000 yesterday after he admitted a curfew breach.

Tatem Ford, 37, pleaded guilty in Magistrates’ Court to a breach of the 11pm to 5am lockdown.

The court heard that police stopped Ford around 12.12am on December 19 last year as he rode his motorcycle along South Road in Paget.

He told officers that he been to check on his grandmother.

But he added: “I understand that I am in breach of curfew”.

Ford, from Smiths, told the court that the island-wide blackout on December 18 had knocked out his grandmother’s water pump and that no other family members had been able to repair it.

He said he had visited her house to fix the pump after he completed his duties with the Royal Bermuda Regiment and was stopped on his way home.

Ford added that he was unsure if the visit to his grandmother would be covered by his exemption as an RBR soldier and did not “feel the need” to mention his military status to the police officers.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe fined Ford $1,000 and gave him until June 15 to pay.

Warren Brown, 23, also pleaded guilty to a breach of the earlier midnight to 5am curfew.

Police stopped Brown, from Southampton, at the intersection of South Road and White Sands Road in Paget at about 12.45am on March 20.

He told officers that he had lost track of time when he was at a friend’s house.

Brown told the court that he was pet-sitting for his aunt, who lives in Devonshire, but suffered motorcycle problems and left the aunt’s house later than expected.

Mr Wolffe fined Brown $2,000 and ordered him to pay by June 15.

Kingston Darrell, 28, also pleaded guilty to a breach of the midnight to 5am curfew.

Officers stopped Darrell on his motorcycle at the intersection of Hermitage Road and Middle Road in Devonshire around 1.42am on March 20.

He told officers that he went to visit his aunt before curfew but his motorcycle broke down.

He added that his aunt did not have a spare room for him and that he was forced to leave.

Elizabeth Christopher, for the defence, said that the incident was “beyond his control” and asked for leniency.

Mr Wolffe fined Darrell, from Devonshire, $2,000 and ordered him to pay by June 15.

Andrew Hanly and John King, both 26, pleaded not guilty to a breach of the 11pm to 5am curfew.

The incident was alleged to have happened on March 28 in Warwick.

Mr Wolffe adjourned the case until July 5 and released the two, both from Warwick, on $2,000 bail.

Tishae Davis, 29, also denied a breach of the 11pm to 5am curfew.

The incident was alleged to have happened on December 26 last year in Pembroke.

Mr Wolffe also released Davis, from Sandys, on $2,000 bail and adjourned her case until July 5.