girlfriend, he landed in a Bermuda courtroom.

Back in New York last Friday, she picked him up and drove him off on a surprise birthday trip, leaving him guessing where they were headed.

And when he realised they were boarding a flight to Bermuda, he was so carried away he forgot one small thing -- the cannabis in his jeans pocket.

In Magistrates' Court yesterday Pattakos admitted having 4.20 grams of cannabis, with cigarette papers, when he arrived at the Civil Air Terminal.

Acting senior magistrate the Wor. John Judge fined him $450.

Pattakos, who celebrated his 29th birthday on the Island, told the court: "My fiancee took me to Bermuda as a surprise. She took me for a ride and said `I'm not going to tell where you're going until we get there'.

"We arrived at Newark airport, and when we got to the gate that was when I realised I was going to Bermuda. I forgot I had the cannabis.

"I thought we were going to Florida. If I had known I was going abroad I would not have brought it.'' Two other US air passengers were fined for having cannabis yesterday. John Albert Cook, 36, of Massachusetts, admitted having 1.38 grams and was fined $150.

Alan Gershberg, 32, from New York, admitted having 2.05 grams and a cannabis pipe, discovered in cavities of a wooden container in his luggage, and was fined $400. "Had I known there was zero tolerance of it on the Island I would not have brought it,'' he told the court.

"I hope it will not keep me from coming back, because I had a great vacation.''