given a $600 fine but did not have the money to pay it.

Appearing in Magistrates' Court after spending four days in custody, Adrian Roberson, 41, of South Carolina, was ordered back into custody.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis said he would have to remain there until the fine was paid.

Roberson said he had only $120 to his name and pleaded with Mr. Francis not to send him back to jail.

He said he had been unable to get in touch with relatives in America, but would try and borrow the money from friends at the US Naval Air Station.

But prosecutor Insp. Peter Duffy said there were a number of visiting yachts which Roberson could easily leave the Island on.

Roberson had admitted five charges of stealing $2,300 worth of scuba gear from South Side Scuba at the Grotto Bay Hotel between April 19 and June 18.

Insp. Duffy said tanks, two wet suits, a regulator, two buoyancy control devices, a diving-weight belt, two pressure gages and two pairs of fins were all recovered from the Hamilton Parish home of Roberson's uncle.

Roberson was house-sitting for his uncle who is stationed at the Base and is on vacation.

Insp. Duffy said the offences came to light last Thursday when South Side Scuba owner Mr. Robert Limes reported the missing equipment to Police.

Acting on information received, a search warrant was obtained and Roberson's uncle's house was searched, Insp. Duffy said. Some of the stolen equipment was recovered, he said, adding the other items were later found in a box in the garage.

He said Roberson claimed the gear was loaned to him by an employee of the dive shop, however the employee "vehemently denied'' she loaned it to him.

The Court heard one of the tanks had been painted a different colour, and Roberson's initials had been stamped over the owner's initials.

Roberson told the Court he painted the tanks because he wanted to return them in better condition than he borrowed them. He put his initials on them because he wanted people to know he painted them.

Taking into consideration the four days he spent in custody, Mr. Francis fined him $600, saying he found it "very difficult'' to accept his story.