Almost four years after an traffic accident left a former tennis pro confined to a wheelchair, his widow is left asking when the other motorist involved in the smash will be prosecuted .

Freda Smith said her husband died three months after an article appeared in about his plight for justice.

And an insurance company says it cannot pay Mrs. Smith any compensation for her husband?s accident because the driver of the car that crashed into him has never been prosecuted.

Speaking from her modest home in Duke of Clarence Street, St. George?s, Mrs Smith referred to numerous letters from both lawyers and the Director of Public Prosecutions? office concerning the case.

Due to an endless string of unfortunate events, her husband, Eldridge lost his right leg and was confined to a wheelchair unable to bend his left leg ? which no longer had a knee.

On November 10, 2001 Mr. Smith was riding his motorcycle along South Shore Road in Devonshire, when he was allegedly struck by a driver in a car.

He was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he was treated for a broken left leg and a broken right ankle.

He was treated and sent home, but a few days later was rushed back to hospital as a gash ? which he claimed had been left untreated by hospital staff ? had become infected.

Doctors had no choice but the amputate the leg.

He was flown by air ambulance to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland in a bid to save his other leg.

It was then discovered that gangrene was spreading towards his heart and he had also suffered a broken collar bone and bed sores ? none of which had been detected by staff at KEMH.

Four months later he returned to Bermuda and KEMH, but his left leg started festering again within two weeks and he was airlifted back to Johns Hopkins for a second time and remained there for five months.

Mrs. Smith said her husband, who died in February 2004, was a great man who represented Bermuda in tennis tournaments and played against tennis legends Althea Turner and Arthur Ashe.

He was also an entertainer and painter by profession.

She said despite being in his 70s, her husband was very active and had been on his way to a painting job when the accident happened.

?He just wanted justice and compensation for the crime that was committed against him,? she said.

She said her husband contacted the Bermuda Police Service endlessly after the accident demanding to know when charges would be brought against the drunk driver.

But, she said, he was told that Police had ?lost the accident file? and the officer involved ? P.c. Brangman ? was no longer in Bermuda.

The family has been unable to receive compensation from Colonial Insurance because the driver has never been taken to court and charged with an offence.

A letter from Mr. Smith?s lawyer confirmed that the file was later found.

?Not a day goes by that I don?t miss him,? Mrs. Smith said yesterday.

She said the last two years of her husband?s life had been very difficult for all of them ? emotionally and financially.

Her step-daughter wrote to Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith in January 2004, saying that the situation ?reeks of inadequacies and incompetence and while we have our own theories on the reasons for this, we choose not to share them at this time, as it only serves to heighten our own suspicions and subsequently reduce our faith in the local force that is here to serve the community?.

Following that article in , the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kulandra Ratneser responded that the DPP had requested the file from Police and would be looking into the matter.

In a letter from the Registrar three months later, it was stated that although the family appeared to have a cause of action, ?no case was found in the Registry of the Supreme Court under your name?.

The letter went on to say that so far as a criminal prosecution goes against the person involved in the traffic accident, ?that is not a matter over which the Chief Justice exercises any control.?

Mrs. Smith said yesterday that she never stopped calling the DPP?s office enquiring as to the case, but never got a straight answer.

?Nobody cares about nobody anymore,? she said.

She said thankfully her husband had a good medical insurance, or the family would have suffered even more.

The couple had been married for 20 years when he died on February 9, 2004.

He left behind a son, Eldridge Wesley, who is now 18.

?He had a very difficult time dealing with his daddy?s death. He still does,? she said.

She added that there was no real ?support structure? for her son and she tried, as any mother would, to keep him out of trouble.

She said that her son showed an interest in going to university, but because the insurance had not yet paid out, this was out of the question.

?I call the lawyers when I can and they just say they?re working on it.? she said.

Mrs. Smith said all her husband wanted was justice and all she wants is to see that happen.

When asked about the case a few weeks ago, the DPP?s office did not respond. Former DPP, Mr. Ratneser was not available for comment last night.