Two suspended sentences given to St George’s ‘con man’A St George’s man has been charged in Magistrates’ Court with two counts of obtaining property by deception.John Lovell Charles Edwards, 43, of Ferry Reach, admitted both offences. He said he’d failed to appear at his January trial for the charges because he had forgotten about it.For count one, the court heard that on September 5, Edwards took lunch with three friends at the Splendido restaurant, in Paget.Their bill came to $196.65, but Edwards told the manager he had left his wallet at home. He left a business card and phone number.After communicating with Edwards several times and receiving credit card numbers that did not work, the manager made a complaint to police on September 11. Arrested on September 14, Edwards told police: “You know, I’m going to be honest with you, no, I’m not going to rush over to Splendido to pay.”He told Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner: “I really wasn’t trying to deceive this man at all.”However, noting that Edwards had multiple convictions for dishonesty offences and cheque fraud, Mr Warner said: “Are you getting tired of lying to yourself? You think you are a con man. You’ve been doing the same thing over and over again.”Edwards was charged also with taking cash to the value of $812 from Brian Alkon on August 10. Mr Alkon thought he had been paid $8,000 by Edwards as a security deposit on two rental properties, and wrote Edwards a cheque for $812 to pay him back the difference.However, he discovered on August 11 that the bank had been mistaken, and that the $8,000 had not actually been paid into his account. Edwards, meanwhile, had already cashed the cheque for $812. He promised repeatedly to repay Mr Alkon, but did not.On September 2, having received nothing, Mr Alkon reported the matter to police. Arrested on November 28, Edwards admitted to cashing the cheque. Mr Warner sentenced Edwards to 12 months’ imprisonment for each offence, with both sentences suspended for 24 months.He warned Edwards that if he came back before the court during that time, both sentences would be activated.Former Adventist pastor diesFormer Seventh-day Adventist pastor Alvin R Goulbourne, Sr died on Friday in Huntsville, Alabama at the age of 82.Elder Goulbourne also served as president of the Bermuda Mission between 1977 and 1986 and executive secretary in the Atlantic Union Conference before his retirement in 1996.His funeral service will be held at the Oakwood University Church in Huntsville on Sunday, April 17. Donations may be made to the Oakwood Adventist Academy Building Fund.Prisoner gets 30 days added for stealing chargeA 25-year-old Pembroke man got time added to his jail sentence for stealing $30 worth of wine.Jamel Bascome, already in police custody for unpaid fines, admitted stealing two bottles of wine from Arnold’s Express, in Hamilton, on January 23.Magistrates’ Court heard that at 5pm, Bascome entered the store with a companion, who stood blocking the manager’s view.A store employee then noticed Bascome placing the two bottles in his back pockets. She shouted as both men headed for the door, then followed them outside after they continued onto the street.The employee recognised Bascome. After finding wine missing from the liquor aisle, the manager reported the matter to police, and Bascome was arrested on January 27.Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner sentenced him to 30 days’ imprisonment, consecutive to the time currently being served.Sniffer dog found cannabis in tourist’s cabinKeeping drugs in his cruise ship cabin resulted in a hefty fine for a 43-year-old visitor from the US.Edward John Molinari, from New York, admitted in Magistrates’ Court to the April 11 offence of possessing and importing drugs.The court heard from Crown counsel Larissa Burgess that shortly before noon, after the ship from the US arrived at Dockyard, Bermuda customs and police performed a search of Molinari’s cabin, based on information they had received.A sniffer dog found seven homemade cigarettes in the room’s safe, plus a partially-smoked eighth, containing cannabis. Its estimated street value was $178.Molinari asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner for leniency, saying the drugs had not been his. He said he had found the joints inside a cigarette pack under the bed, and had initially mistaken it for his wife’s cigarettes.He said: “I have three little kids, and I locked it in the safe so they wouldn’t find it. I should have told the authorities.”Mr Warner fined him $3,000, to be paid forthwith.Do you have British ties?A British television company is looking for Bermudians with British family ties for an upcoming television programme.The programme, with the working title ‘Guess the Relative’ is being produced by Dragonfly TV, which has previously produced several documentaries and reality television series such as ‘The Family’.The idea of the show is that it brings together British families with distant relatives from other countries.Selected participants will be flown to the UK, stay in a countryside home, and meet distant members of their family they may not have even known existed. Those interested are asked to email relatives[AT]dragonfly.tv.Useful website: www.dragonfly.tvCADA donates computers to Salvation ArmyAnti-drunk driving group CADA has donated two computers to the Salvation Army’s Harbour Light life skills programme.CADA said it needed larger memory on its computers due to its expansion, so gave the two it had been using for the past six years to a worthy cause.Harbour Light teaches people how to use a computer, write resumes and search for jobs online. “CADA was happy to donate them to the Salvation Army programme,” said CADA in a statement.