Two men accused of plotting to kill five people connected with a court case have been found not guilty of a separate charge of trying to pervert the course of justice.

But a Supreme Court jury could not reach a majority verdict on whether the two defendants had intended to kill the four witnesses and a high-ranking Police officer whose names, along with the words ?kill them? and $1,900 had been found in a letter they posted to an acquaintance in Jamaica.

Kenneth Sinclair Durrant, 53 and Javon Ernest Gardner, 27, have been remanded in custody to face a possible re-trial on the conspiracy to kill charges.

The duo were accused of sending the letter and $1,900 to Durrant?s half-brother in Jamaica last November in order to have the five people on the list, including three Police officers, assassinated.

But the letter was routed via the USA by international courier firm UPS and was intercepted by a US Homeland Security officer who discovered the apparently sinister content of the letter and the cash and alerted the authorities in Jamaica.

When Durrant?s half-brother Vernon Berkley collected the letter at a delivery office in Jamaica he was apprehended by the authorities.

Durrant and Gardner were arrested by Police in Bermuda last December. They have since maintained their innocence.

Gardener, of Crossfield Lane, Sandys, wrote the letter listing the names of witnesses and Police officers involved in a Magistrates? Court case that was pending in late 2004 and in which he was accused of a stun gun assault.

During the conspiracy to murder trial he told the court the letter had merely been to update Mr. Berkley about how things were going. The two had briefly met in Hamilton in October when Gardener accepted a lift from Durrant and spoke to Mr. Berkley who was also in the car.

Explaining why he had written ?kill them? next to five of the names on the list, Gardner said it was street slang and a commonly used expression in rap and reggae music, especially in Jamaica, that actually meant ?f*** them? and indicated being particularly ?p****** off? with certain individuals.

Gardner and Durrant both wore suits as they stood in the dock and were represented by defence lawyers Victoria Pearman and John Perry QC respectively.

The jury heard that Durrant, of Ord Road, Warwick, had told Gardener last November that he was going to send a package to his half-brother in Jamaica.

Gardner asked if he could send some clothes to Mr. Berkley and a letter to inform him how his court case was going. The names listed in the letter he had copied from his lawyer?s paperwork.

Gardner denied that sending the clothes, which were a T-shirt, socks and underwear, was a ruse to deflect attention from the letter and cash, and said he sent the items as a gesture of love and respect.

The court was told that when the pair learned that delivery of the package had been delayed Durrant wondered if it was because he had put cash into the envelope, while Gardner thought it might be because the words in his letter had been misinterpreted.

Durrant, who did not give evidence at the trial, had said in a taped police interview that he had not read Gardner?s letter ?to the max? before it had been posted, but believed the term ?kill them? was youth slang for being particularly aggrieved at someone but not an actual instruction to have anyone killed.

He also said the $1,900 was an innocent gift to his half-brother.

Gardner and Durrant faced up to life imprisonment if found guilty of the five charges of conspiracy to kill Det. Sgt. Arthur Glasford, Det. Con. Terry Trott, Det. Con. Llewellyn Edwards, Sharrieff Wales and Dion Ford.

After six hours of deliberation the jury could not reach a majority verdict on the five conspiracy to kill counts both men faced.

But the jury acquitted both on the sixth charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves ordered Durrant and Gardner be remanded in custody for re-arraignment on December 1.

The other man said to have been involved in the alleged plot, Mr. Berkley, was not a defendant in the trial.