A teenage conscript has been jailed for two months for skipping Regiment duties.

Michael DeShields, 19, pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court to failing to turn up six times between March and May this year.

He also admitted disobeying an order to complete 14 days of extra duties and failing to pay a $411 fine.

However the defendant, of Middletown Drive, Pembroke, denied disobeying an order to empty a trash can and leaving Warwick Camp in February.

Acting Captain Christopher Gauntlett, representing the Regiment in court, indicated it was not necessary for the trash can matter to go to trial.

Senior Crown Counsel Carrington Mahoney told the court DeShields was enlisted in the Regiment in October 2006 and has one year and nine months of service remaining.

"The Commanding Officer decided the present offences are of such a serious nature that they should be dealt with by the Magistrates," he explained.

DeShields had previously been handed two sentences of 30 days imprisonment, suspended for two years by a Magistrate, for skipping duties on other occasions.

He told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo during his latest court appearance that he did not pay his fine because the Regiment owes him money.

"Why should I have to pay the Army if they're not paying me? That's how I feel, sir, I'm not, don't know if that's right or wrong," he remarked.

Mr. Tokunbo warned him: "Things aren't always as they should be, particularly as you would like them to be, and if you take things into your own hands and act according to your own feelings there can be consequences and prices to pay."

He told DeShields he knew he was putting himself at risk of having his previous suspended sentences activated by committing further offences.

The soldier told him: "I had serious problems with where I'm staying. I no longer have an apartment to stay at. I'm ready for whatever judgment you're ready to give."

Mr. Tokunbo ordered the two previously imposed suspended sentences of 30 days to be activated, to run consecutively.

He added an additional 25-day sentence relating to two unpaid speeding fines to run concurrently, meaning the teenager will spend a total of 60 days in jail.