Lawyer Marc Telemaque is calling for new Police custody laws after claiming his teenage client was held 25 hours before being questioned.

Mr. Telemaque told a Magistrates' Court hearing on Friday that 18-year-old Maurice Christopher spent more than a full day behind bars before seeing a Police officer connected with his case.

He told Senior Magistrate Will Francis that the episode was "frightening'', an "injustice'', "unforgivable'' and "an abuse''.

The defence lawyer was representing Christopher, a CedarBridge Academy student, for a simple traffic offence.

Christopher, of Happy Valley Road, Pembroke, pleaded guilty and was fined $50 for disobeying a traffic sign on Angle Street on January 21.

But Mr. Telemaque told the the packed Plea Court session how his client was arrested at 2 p.m. on Wednesday "on another matter''.

He said Police only realised the accused was wanted on apprehension warrant for the traffic offence towards the end of his 44-hour stint in custody.

The lawyer added: "He was detained in the Hamilton Police Station for 25 hours before he saw a Police officer connected with his case.

"At 4.30 on Thursday afternoon, he was finally being interviewed by the Police and only at that stage was it found that an apprehension warrant existed for him.

"At this point, my client was further detained to appear this morning. This smacks of an abuse. It's frightening. It's as if he was almost forgotten.'' Mr. Telemaque said UK laws would mean a similar case in Britain could give rise to "a slew of writs against the Government''.

"Until we have some form of regulations over what takes place upon arrest in a Police Station, this kind of injustice will continue,'' he said.

"This is unforgivable. I don't care if he was being investigated for murder, this is simply unforgivable.'' Crown Counsel Larry Mussenden, prosecuting the traffic case, said: "We have a friendly Bermuda Police Service that expedites matters to this court.

"They offer a service to the Bermuda public. Those arrested are entrusted into the custody of the Police and they always have a jailer on duty.

"He would have been fed. He would have had opportunities to go to the lavatory. He would have been able to make phone calls.

"It's not like he was just thrown into a dungeon somewhere and never thought of again.'' Mr. Telemaque said current Police custody laws required prisoners to be checked every six hours.

And Mr. Francis said: "We are in the process of regularising this kind of thing -- putting into statutory form Police powers of arrest.

"But I think even in the draft legislation I'm reading now, there would have been nothing quite wrong with this situation.''