A Pembroke man with a criminal record dating back more than 20 years returned to prison on Friday.

Basil Melvin Stewart, 39, of Canal Road, received a four-and-a-half-year prison term in the Supreme Court after he admitted to stealing cheques from Teen Services and 18 charges relating to six transactions.

Crown counsel Nita Grewal told the court each transaction involved three charges -- forging a cheque, uttering a false document, and obtaining property by false pretences.

Stewart asked that 18 other similar offences be taken into consideration.

The court heard that Teen Services acting director Sharon Wilkinson complained to Police about break-ins at the facility on Cedar Avenue, Pembroke over the last two months of last year. And she discovered several cheques missing.

Meanwhile, Ms Grewal said, Stewart presented a cheque drawn on the account of The Haven to a Co-op Supermarket employee on December 11 and obtained $282 worth of goods.

Two days later, Stewart committed the same offences at Arnold's Supermarket on St. John's Road and the Garden Market and obtained $380 and $370 worth of goods, respectively.

Later in December Stewart visited the Bank of Bermuda where he forged a cheque drawn on The Haven account, uttered the document, and obtained $680 in cash by false pretences.

He committed the same offences on Christmas Eve at the bank and obtained $710.

But when Stewart tried to obtain $2,500 via the same means on December 27 at the bank, a teller became suspicious, refused to cash the cheque and notified Police.

Stewart was arrested on December 30.

In a Police interview, Ms Grewal said Stewart admitted writing out the cheques and cashing them. But he told Police he found the cheques floating along Cedar Avenue.

Stewart told Police he needed the money to pay his rent.

And on Friday his lawyer, Mark Pettingill, told Chief Justice Austin Ward that Stewart knew he had a drug problem and wanted help.

If Stewart was sent back to prison without the "tools'' he needed to help himself, he would continue to get into trouble upon his release, Mr.

Pettingill said.

"You have a man before you who admits he's wrong and wants some help,'' he added. "I can only hope that within the next short period these programmes that are promised (to address recidivism) are implemented.

"I would suggest that it would be inappropriate to sentence Mr. Stewart for a long period when he will not be exposed to such programmes and then expect him to live and work in a normal environment.'' Mr. Pettingill also pointed out that Stewart fully cooperated with Police and had attempted to straighten out his life since his release from prison.

Apologising to the court and his victims, Stewart said: "I'd like the court to know that since being released from prison, I have made a stand to better my life.

"I was going to church, I got myself an apartment and a job. But I got laid off from work. My rent was accumulating and that kind of stressed me out a bit.'' Because of this, the unemployed man added, he began using drugs again.

Stewart, whose criminal record dates back to 1973 and who was released from prison in August, 1995 for breaking and entering and stealing, added: "Out of each time I've been in trouble, I feel this is the longest time I have been out of prison because I feel I've tried.'' Taking into account Stewart's guilty plea, cooperation with Police, "the expression of remorse and any other mitigating factors'', Mr. Ward sentenced him to one year for stealing the cheques; four-and-a-half years for the 17 counts of forging, uttering, and obtaining goods or cash by false pretences, and to two years for attempting to obtain $2,500 by false pretences.

All of the sentences will run concurrently with the time that Stewart spent in custody taken into consideration.

Mr. Ward also recommended that Stewart receive psychological counselling and any other help he needed for his drug problem.