The 24-year-old Pembroke man had tied up a visiting Canadian Senator and an Ontario couple in their home.

On a brighter note Hollywood superstar Michael Douglas told The Royal Gazette he wanted to spend more time on the Island.

"Bermuda is unique,'' the tinseltown Titan said. "I'm living more and more in New York and I find it very easy to come down here to meet my family.'' Outgoing Governor Lord Waddington made an emotional farewell to the Island with an emotional outpouring of warm words in a ceremony full of pomp and pageantry.

The month of May began with the whole Island disgraced on the international stage by two sportsmen.

At least two Bermudian cricketers were suspected of smoking pot while representing their country on a tour of Malaysia -- a country that hangs drug smugglers.

Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president Ed Bailey came under fire for failing to test his players for drugs -- despite the fact that he made several public assurances that players would be screened.

Political scraps and bad tempered debates were a common feature throughout the year.

May also saw the finale of another dramatic incident days later when the rusting Chines ship Xing Da was laid to rest on the sea bed.

Dozens of commercial fishing boats brushed with a Government tug as fishermen threw a picket line of vessels around Marginal Wharf in a bid to stop the freighter from setting out to sea.

The BIU had earlier accused Government of putting cash before the environment and ignoring expert advice about where to sink the wreck.

And water was the cause of another altogether different catastrophe in May when record shattering rainfall for the month devastated farmers' crops.

Roland Hill of J & J Produce told The Royal Gazette : "We went through February, March and April with no rain and the plants got used to it.

"Then too much rain came at once. The plants couldn't absorb it and disease and bacteria started to set in.'' In June, Police revealed the nuts and bolts of an undercover operation in the fight against drug pushers.

Operation Cleansweep, in which plain clothes officers made test purchases of drugs on street corners to build up a file of evidence, was claimed as a great success by both law enforcers and politicians.

The operation landed dozens of suspected pushers before the courts but also forced security services to go on red alert after Premier Pamela Gordon began receiving death threats.

And enthusiasm over news of mass arrests was also tempered when The Royal Gazette later revealed that Westgate Correctional Facility was becoming overcrowded with the likelihood of prisoners being allowed to finish their sentences early becoming a real possibility.

The Police's record was also tarnished when the trial of alleged drug dealer Ellsworth Wilson collapsed following revelations that one officer was persuaded to change her witness statement by colleagues.

The officer at the centre of the scandal -- Det. Con. Lendrea Davis -- later resigned over the incident.

The offensive also threw Environment Minister Irving Pearman into scandal after he was implicated in a drugs-buying deal.

The long standing burger war continued to rumble on throughout 1997. Early in the year, MPs voted against fast food franchises by a whopping 22-13. Despite the overwhelming no vote, furious UBP backbencher Maxwell Burgess, whose firm Grape Bay hoped to open a McDonald's on the Island, declared he would not let the matter rest.

And when new Governor Thorold Masefield finally signed the act banning fast food franchises with a foreign flavour in August the legislation was instantly challenged by Grape Bay.

It looked like the matter was finally resolved in September when Attorney General Elliott Mottley put the skids on the deal by claiming that a letter of intent between McDonald's and Grape Bay was not a valid contract.

But that decision was then overruled by Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux and an appeal against that decision is expected to be heard in 1998.

St. Anne's, Southampton priest the Rev. Michael Davis was left feeling furious after The Royal Gazette revealed that a saucy strip show had been held at the Church Hall in June.

Topless female dancers sat on the laps of eager punters, egged on by male dancers wearing nothing but G-strings.

"I understand these things are illegal,'' Mr. Davis said.

"It was a very unfortunate thing to have happened. I reported the matter and that's all I can do.'' Crime often hit the headlines during the summer months.

In the middle of July, Reid Jones and Randolph Lightbourne were arrested and charged following a violent armed robbery in Somerset in which three security guards were beaten.

Brandishing guns, the pair allegedly made off with $70,0000 from the Somerset branch of The Bank of Butterfield.

Another armed robber, Kirk Mundy, already serving five years after admitting being an accomplice to the Rebecca Middleton murder, received a 16-year prison term after being convicted of robbing a security van.

And Derek Spalding was jailed for 28 years for an armed raid at Lindo's Market in Devonshire.

The summer brought good news on the economic front when inflation dipped below two percent for the first time since records began.

But the Island was brought to a near standstill in July when ferry workers threatened strike action over wage negotiations. An overtime ban was imposed and other Government workers, including bus drivers, also threatened action.

The dispute was finally resolved over the negotiation table just before the Cup Match holiday weekend.

Teachers were also an unhappy bunch in the summer, threatened to work to rule because they had been left out of the education restructuring process. In August, Chamber of Commerce president David Rowntree announced that "we have to throw away all the mistrusts away and get on with rebuilding tourism''.

Unfortunately, less than a week later, hundreds of visitors saw a negative side of the Island when about 200 youths went on the rampage through Hamilton on a Harbour Night.

It is often said that things come in threes. After the political resignations of Premier David Saul and Sir John Swan earlier in the year it might have been a bit much to expect another surprise stand down.

Nevertheless, at the beginning of September a third resignation hit the news when Police Commissioner Colin Coxall quit the force -- six months before the end of his contract.

One Police insider told The Royal Gazette : "It's a big blow to the force -- Mr. Coxall has been the best thing to happen to the Police in years.'' But the political fall-out from the resignation was to go on throughout the rest of the year.

Later in the month Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness revealed that he did not believe the out oing Commissioner had fulfilled his duties because he failed to prepare a Bermudian officer to step into his shoes.

"Needless to say, both Government and the senior officers in the Bermuda Police -- and indeed the Governor -- are very disappointed over this delay,'' the Minister said.

Mr. Edness repeated his remarks in October and also added that a hate campaign orchestrated by the PLP might have played a part in his resignation.

But he later told the House of Assembly that he could not work with Mr. Coxall and had said he would quit if the Commissioner remained.

Deputy Governor Peter Willis later confirmed that a "long term erosion'' in the relationship between the two men had taken place.

But that was not the end of the matter. At the end of the year Shadow Public Safety minister Alex Scott revealed to the House of Assembly that three ministers were responsible for sending the Commissioner packing.

And he also said that Mr. Coxall did not approve of Pamela Gordon's appointment as Premier.

Mr. Scott later threatened the Premier with legal action after she allegedly called him a liar on a ZBM news broadcast. Ms Gordon refused to apologise.

And Quinton Edness also decided to consult his lawyer after it was alleged that Dennis Lister called him a liar when Parliament broke up for the Christmas holiday.

The biggest international story of the year broke at the end of August with the death of the Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris.

Bermudians joined in the worldwide mourning and extra pages had to be put into the official Books of Condolence as thousands queued to pay their last respects.

The start of a fresh school year got underway in September heralding a fresh start for students at CedarBridge Academy -- the Island's newest school.

At the end of the opening day of the new term CedarBridge principal Ernest Payette said: "There was a little more chaos than we would have liked but we are learning. As we go along it will get better.'' But within two weeks Police had to make a string of arrests at the school following an outbreak of disorder.

And the unruly behaviour went on for the rest of the year, with students hitting the headlines for attacks on bus drivers and loutish behaviour.

To make matters worse the academic record of students at the school was also shown in a poor light in December when figures showed that literacy levels of more than 50 percent of students was below standard.

Also unhappy with their lot were Westgate remand prisoners who staged a sit-in at the prison because they had not been granted bail.

It was a politician who stole the limelight throughout October -- but not for any vote-winning reason.

Hamilton Parish East MP and AME church pastor the Rev. Trevor Woolridge was found guilty of sexual assault after a parishioner claimed he exposed himself to her and touched one of her breasts.

But the PLP stood firmly behind the AME minister and the conviction was later quashed following allegations that the magistrate conducting the case, Michael Smith, was an approved UBP candidate and that certain evidence was not admissible. Mr. Woolridge has now left the Island.

That decision has now been appealed by the Attorney General.

Another politician who found himself in a compromising position in the autumn was Transport Minister Wayne Furbert, whose wife was allowed to open a coffee vending facility at the airport. The minister eventually withdrew his permission following a storm of protest.

And Environment Minister Irving Pearman was once more thrown into the mire of controversy after he lifted building restrictions on woodland reserve at Vesey Street to allow the National Equestrian Centre to put forward a plan to develop the site.

Critics from the National Trust called the move "unusual and unprecedented''.

Police claimed another major scalp in November when an elderly couple were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

More than $1.5 million dollars of the drug had been found in at the home of William Roberts, 71, and his wife Barbara -- the biggest haul ever seized from a residential property in the Island's history.

Another political winner was the UBP's Erwin Adderley who won a seat in the House of Assembly after romping home in the Pembroke West by-election with a thumping 59 percent of the vote.

The election had been called following the resignation of Cabinet Minister David Dyer.

The UBP lost a former party member and Speaker of the House when David Wilkinson died suddenly.

As the year came to an end the Island was shocked by another brutal murder.

Widow Beatrice Simons, 69, was attacked in her home on Cochrane Road, Sandys on the evening of December 1. She died six days later in hospital from head wounds received in the attack. Two men have since been arrested.

And killer, Damon DeRosa, 21, was sentenced to death by Chief Justice Austin Ward after being found guilty of the premeditated murder of his five-year-old daughter Lynae. DeRosa's lawyer, Mark Pettingill, is appealing the verdict.

Government decided to crack down on teen drinkers by introducing a Liquor Licensing Amendment Act to the House. The new laws should make it harder for under age drinkers to get their hands on booze and for once MPs on both sides of the House were in virtual agreement on the issue.

But in a 12 months littered with political departures, the year could not end without one last MP taking a final curtain call.

UBP veteran and Health Minister Clarence Terceira announced his resignation from politics at the end of the year, one month after his 70th birthday.

At the end of the year Premier Pamela Gordon, in her Christmas message, said: "As a country our blessings continue year after year. We enjoy progress and prosperity and are spared disasters.

"Certainly our reasons for giving thanks far outnumber any causes for discontent. That in itself is enough to celebrate this Christmas.'' FINAL VOYAGE -- Despite protests by fishermen, the ill-fated Xing Da became a diving attraction this year.

Graphic file name: XINGER