An inquest into a ten-year-old unsolved killing will be held "in the not too distant future,'' says a Police official.

Sgt. Rex Osborne, the Police Coroner's Officer, said the Coroner was now examining the file on the May 4, 1985 killing of Aaron Glen Easton.

Despite rumours that the file on the Easton case had been misplaced, "there is a file,'' Sgt. Osborne said.

Mr. Easton was found dead in a yard outside Brooklyn Apartments on Laffan Street, Hamilton at about 1.45 a.m. on May 4, 1985. In addition to multiple stab wounds, he had suffered severe head injuries.

That afternoon, more than a dozen Police officers rushed to Spanish Point Park where a crowd of more than 20 youths were threatening to hang a man who they suspected in the killing.

Police rescued the 30-year-old Pembroke man and took him into custody, but he was released without charges. A 29-year-old Pembroke man was also taken into custody and released without charges.

Early in the probe into the 19-year-old footballer's death, Police said they were encouraged by the progress they were making and the investigation looked promising. But no further arrests were made.

Both Mr. Easton's mother, Mrs. Lois Easton of Warwick, and his father, Mr.

Horace Smith of Southampton, have questioned why no inquest had been held.

When The Royal Gazette reviewed the case earlier this year, Police admitted an "oversight'' in the Easton case and said an inquest would be held.

"At the time of this incident an inquest should have been opened and adjourned,'' Deputy Commissioner Mr. Michael Mylod said in a news release.

"H.M. Coroner will now be approached with a view to opening an inquest into the tragic death of Aaron Glen Easton.'' Asked why no inquest had been held into the May 4, 1985 killing, as required under the Coroners Act 1938, Mr. Mylod, through a spokesman, said: "There was an oversight by Police. There is no express reason why an inquest was not opened and adjourned.'' In a case of murder, an inquest cannot be closed until a suspect is charged.

That is why Mr. Mylod said an inquest should have been opened and adjourned.