56-year-old man $700 in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Woodrow Burrows pleaded guilty yesterday to attempting to pervert the course of justice in 1985.

The Court heard Burrows had left the Island while being investigated by Police. He was arrested upon arrival at the airport this summer.

Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun said Burrows, who now lives in Guam, had offered the Customs officer $20,000 to give false testimony at a friend's trial on the US Naval Air Station. However, the customs officer immediately reported the attempted bribe to the authorities.

Mr. Calhoun said Burrows had been working as a fireman on Base at the time.

His friend, a naval officer, had been charged with importing cannabis to Bermuda from Jamaica through the post office parcel department.

Mr. Calhoun said Burrows had tried to get the Customs officer to say the seal on the parcel of cannabis had been broken when it arrived.

The naval officer was eventually convicted of the drug offence and discharged from the US Navy.

Mr. Calhoun said the fact Burrows fled the Island should be regarded as an "aggravating factor in sentencing''. He said the fact it happened so long ago should not cause the sentence to be any lower.

Burrows' lawyer Mr. Charles Vaucrosson said his client had not planned to carry through with the bribe. He didn't have $20,000 to give the officer, he said, adding that Burrows had returned to Bermuda to face the charge.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis, noting the offence was "a very serious one'', fined him $700.