heroin addict to get a more lenient sentence.

Davon Cann had pleaded guilty to importing 12.8 grammes of heroin in a tube of hair gel, found in his luggage as he arrived via commercial airline last August 11.

Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun said the drug had a street value of nearly $4,000.

Cann admitted to Police the drug was his, Mr. Calhoun said. He also stated that he did not use heroin and that the drug was given to him for nothing.

But Cann later changed his evidence, saying he had been a heroin addict for nearly four years and had bought the drug in America for $1,000.

Defence lawyer Mr. Archie Warner argued Cann had lied to Police because he was ashamed of being a drug addict.

The drug, was, in fact, for his own use -- and not for sale, Mr. Warner claimed.

Drug counsellors testified Cann had first sought help from them about a month after his arrest.

He claimed to have a $300-$400-a-day habit, they said, noting heroin use in Bermuda was on the rise.

The counsellors said their inquiries revealed he hung around several heroin addicts in the Somerset area. And they said his urine had tested positive for heroin, although this would occur whether he had been using heroin either three years or one day before the test.

He had an absence of physical symptoms because he snorted and smoked the drug as opposed to intravenous use.

Mr. Warner established that denial was a "hallmark '' of addiction.

But Mr. Calhoun disputed how a heroin addict with such an expensive habit -- and making only $300 a week -- could afford to go on vacation and fork out $1,000 to buy the drug.

"Wouldn't he much rather use the money for heroin?,'' he asked.

He added even if the drug was for Cann's own use there was a danger of it falling into the wrong hands through loss or theft, or being "shared'' out among friends, some of whom may have never used heroin.

"It's all too easy for the accused to say he is hopelessly addicted in the hopes of being dealt with more leniently,'' he said.

Summing up, Mr. Warner said Cann needed rehabilitation, which would not be easy in prison.

He told Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward that he had the discretion to pass a non-custodial sentence, but if he was not so minded then it should be short enough so as not to "destroy him''.

Mr. Justice Ward said he wanted more time to consider the case and evidence and adjourned it to May 17 for sentencing.