Magistrates' Court.

Styles Randell Furbert pleaded guilty to drinking in public but told acting Senior Magistrate Edward King, he thought it was acceptable to drink in public as long as the liquor was in a brown bag.

Mr. King said: "Ignorance of the law is no excuse.'' Police arrested Furbert, of no fixed abode, on April 3 after a foot patrol saw him put a bottle, wrapped in brown paper, to his mouth.

When Police told Fubert they were arresting him, Furbert said: "Can we at least wait for my girlfriend? She'll be here in five minutes.'' Furbert was taken to Hamilton Police station.

Mr. King fined Fubert $100 -- the maximum being $2,800 and/or six months imprisonment.

SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL DELAYED CTS Sexual assault trial delayed A man's trial for sexual assault was adjourned for a second time in Magistrate's Court.

The accused, represented by Mark Pettingill, pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a 22-year-old Warwick man sometime between January 1 and 31, last year.

The case was first adjourned in early April after Mr. Pettingill left the Island on an emergency.

At that time, Crown Counsel Graveney Bannister objected and repeated acting Senior Magistrate Edward King's favoured phrase: "Justice delayed is justice denied.'' But Mr. Bannister's objection failed and the case was adjourned.

Mr. King adjourned the trial after asking: "Where are the papers?''.

Mr. Bannister did not object to the adjournment. Mr. Pettingill left the court to attend a Supreme Court matter, he said.

The new date for the trial is not yet known.

PARTY FAVOUR GOES SOUR CTS Party favour goes sour An 18-year-old attempted to contribute to a block party, he said, by stealing two bottles of liquor from the Marketplace in March.

Nakia Green, of Pearman's Hill in Warwick, pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of Corvoisier cognac and a bottle of fruit juice from the Heron Bay Marketplace on March 14 this year, in Magistrates' Court. Green explained the bottles were to be his contribution to a neighbourhood party.

Green said he apologised to store managers before Mr. King fined him $250.