Two Regiment soldiers were punished in Magistrates Court yesterday for going AWOL.

d'Angelo Shawn York, 22, of Sylvan Dell Road, Paget failed to show up for duty on 17 occasions in June, and Michael Steven Rego Souza, of Pembroke, missed 28 Regiment sessions, the court heard.

York who was already on a three month suspended sentence and had just five months of service remaining, was sent to prison for six months.

He told Senior Magistrate Will Francis that he had been kicked out of his home by his mother and he had taken steps to rectify the situation with the Regiment once his life had settled back to normal.

"Would I be wrong to suggest your mother is finding you just as difficult to deal with as the Regiment," Mr. Francis asked.

"It sounds to me you have just reached the end of the line." York's three-month suspended sentence was reinstated and he was given another three month prison sentence on top.

"I have a fiancee and an apartment I'm trying to keep up. So you could lock me up and it's going to be the same thing over and over," said York.

"When you tell me even your mother has to kick you out, you have got some lessons to learn," sai Mr. Francis.

Lawyer Larry Scott, an opponent of jailing Regiment soldiers who go AWOL, interrupted the proceedings to say "why don't we hang him "?

The magistrate also imposed a three-month suspended prison sentence on Michael Steven Rego Souza, 20, who was absent on 28 occasions between April and September.

The Spanish Point Road man told the court that he had been working extremely hard to help support his family and save up for university.

"It became difficult your honour," he said.

Mr. Francis pointed out that he was a "persistent offender" of the Regiment's rules over the period. "Sounds to me the Regiment hasn't seen you since April."

But Rego argued that his record at the Regiment had been a sterling one, he had made it in to an elite corps and that he had no criminal record.

"To whom much is given, much is expected," said prosecutor Wayne Caines. "He should be treated like any other offender."

Mr. Caines asked for a suspended sentence for the rest of his 28 months' term in the regiment. Mr. Francis agreed and imposed a three-month prison sentence suspended for two-and- a-half years.