student, Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

Marvin Woolridge, 29, admitted grabbing bags from visitors' bikes as he rode alongside them.

He said he stole because he owed money to a drug supplier who threatened his life unless he paid up.

But now he had turned his life around and was going to school in the States, he said.

Insp. Peter Duffy, prosecuting, told the court that Woolridge struck six times in two weeks in the summer of 1991.

He had targetted visitors when they were at their most vulnerable, on cycles they were not familiar with, and snatched their bags from their baskets.

The offences "struck at the very fabric of one of the prime industries of Bermuda'', he said.

The total value of Woolridge's haul was $5,441, including cash, cameras, jackets, swimsuits, a towel and a watch. After his arrest he helped Police recover more than $3,500 worth of the loot.

Woolridge, of Loyal Hill Pass, Devonshire, admitted the stealing offences, and also driving while disqualified.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis heard he was now at school in South Carolina, studying criminal justice.

"If you're studying that, why do you flout the court's order by driving while disqualified?'' Mr. Francis asked him.

Woolridge said he had got "caught up'' with drugs in Bermuda and had left the Island to rehabilitate and start studying. He did not use any illegal substances now, he told the court.

At the time of the offences he had been selling drugs for someone and had fallen short in the payments. His life had been threatened, he said.

"I wasn't a big drug pusher,'' he said. "I wasn't working.

"I just came to a stage in my life when I had to change. I took it upon myself to leave because I could not change in Bermuda -- your friends and your environment are going to pull you down.

"I didn't have to come back, but I wanted to face this and get it over with.

I'm just asking for another chance in society so I can prove to be a productive citizen.'' Woolridge said he had two children, and was working to pay his way through college. He said he was due back at school in January, and pleaded with Mr.

Francis not to be sent to prison.

"I don't want to be associated with that environment,'' he said. "I've been in jail and everybody just sits around and talks about what they would like to do when they get out.'' He was joined in court by his uncle, who told Mr. Francis that Woolridge came from a "very good, law-abiding family''.

"I'm very surprised that he has taken a turn like this,'' he said. "He has indicated that he is trying to turn his life around and is trying to pursue a degree.

"He is throwing himself on the mercy of the court, hoping you would see something in him that would warrant your trust in him.'' Insp. Duffy said Woolridge did appear to have done something with his life.

But he wanted the court to send out a firm message about the seriousness of preying upon visitors.

And he reminded Mr. Francis that Woolridge had left the Island when he was due to come up for trial.

Mr. Francis said Woolridge had been on a "rampage'', and the court would have to impose a heavy sentence. But he was impressed by what Woolridge had said, and wanted to think about the stealing offences further.

For driving while disqualified, he imposed a four-month jail sentence suspended for two years, a $300 fine, and two more years off the road.

He adjourned the case for three weeks for a social inquiry report to be prepared, and put Woolridge on $500 bail with a like surety.