The wife of a man who died in prison more than a year ago fears there will be a coverup over his death after hearing that an inquest date has still not been set and the file has sat on a Police desk for months.

Lee-Ann Samuels Dill said she believed the report into the death of Steven Mansfield (Pepe) Dill was being passed from one person to the next simply because no one wanted to deal with it.

Mr. Dill. died in the Prison Farm a year gone December from a suspected asthma attack. But the family claimed negligence after inmates at the jail said he had received little or no medical attention until it was too late.

At the anniversary of his death last month, Labour and Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister said he was as eager as everyone else to have the inquest into his death heard. However, he said he was waiting for a date to be set.

But sources told The Royal Gazette that the Police had simply not acted on the matter since September of last year, when the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions determined no charges were likely to follow at that point.

Ms Samuels Dill, from Pembroke, said: "I feel it's being passed on too much and no one really wants to deal with it. They are waiting for this person and that person, and still no inquest date has been set.

"I feel it's a coverup. They are trying to cover up and protect someone involved. I think they are hoping that the matter will simply go away, but I can promise them that it won't. We will keep on top of this.

"How difficult can it be to set a date for an inquest?"

But a source told The Royal Gazette that the problem and the delay rested solely at the hands of Police. Once a report was completed on the death, it was forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to see if charges could be brought.

After it was handed back to Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Terry Lister, with a recommendation that no prosecution follow, the report was then handed to Police for an inquest to be arranged.

However, that was back in September, but four months on, the issue has moved no further forward.

A source said: "The delay is with the Police. They have had the file since September, and still an inquest date has not been set. We have no idea what they have been doing.

"It is frustrating for everyone. No one knows why they have not moved on this. I think the file has just sat on someone's desk. I don't think it's deliberate, but maybe incompetence."

Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said: "The Bermuda Police Service is in the process of finding the appropriate and suitable legal assistance as it relates to presenting evidence in the Coroner's Inquest.

"The setting of an inquest date does not rest with the Police, but with the Coroner, and, in this regard, the Police Service has consulted the Coroner with a view to choosing a suitable date."

However, The Royal Gazette was informed that the Police did not pass on the file to the Coroner until very recently.

Adding to the problem, sources claimed that neither the DPP or the Attorney General's Chambers wanted to get involved in the issue.

The Police want a lawyer to present the evidence in court, but both the DPP and the Attorney General's Chambers are not enthusiastic.

A source said: "This could be a hot potato so nobody wants it. It is being passed around, but, in the meantime, the family has to wait for the inquest to be set. The DPP says it is not its business, and so now they are hoping the Attorney General's Chambers takes it up."

Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo said the role of his office did not include inquests. He said its role was purely as prosecutors.

And Solicitor General Wilhelm Bourne said he was looking at the matter now.

He said: "I have recently received a letter from the Commissioner of Police, which we are considering right now.

"Of course, we are taking the matter seriously. It's an extremely serious matter. Once we have assessed the situation from a legal perspective, we will give the appropriate advice."

Minister Lister was not available for comment last night. Father-of-two Mr.Dill was due to be released from the Prison Farm just two months after he died.