29-year-old woman resumed after two and half days of legal wrangling.

Testifying on the ninth day of the trial Sergeant Craig Morfitt of the Hamilton detachment of the Bermuda Police Service yesterday read aloud from the December 12 1994, Police statements taken separately from the defendants, who were 19 and 17 at the time of the alleged offence.

In their statements the two men -- who cannot be identified for legal reasons -- claim they were riding motorcycles in the Paget area when they were flagged down by a woman standing at a bus stop near the Elbow Beach Hotel. The two pulled over and the woman, who had been drinking but was not "falling-down drunk'' said she could not hail a cab and asked to be given a lift to Hamilton.

Accounts of the defendants diverge at this point, with one telling the Police that the woman agreed to exchange sex for a ride home and the other saying it was not discussed.

"She was saying `take me home' and I took it to mean she wanted sex. She kept saying `take me home','' Sgt. Morfitt read from the statement of the first defendant who towed the woman on his bike.

Both men told Police they drove along the tracks (of the Railway Trail) and kept to back streets because the woman did not have a helmet.

Eventually the group ended up on Vesey Street: "We took her to Vesey Street to have sex. From the beginning we told her if she wanted a ride home she'd have to give us guys sex; she knew what was going on,'' the first defendant told Police.

The second man, who was riding alone on his cycle, told Police that while sex was not discussed at the Elbow Beach bus stop the woman put her hands down the pants of her driver.

"It looked like she was doing a lot more than that, so we said `why don't we go have sex' but she said `no, take me home'. We drove up the road towards the horse place on Vesey Street. She said `what are we doing here?' and we said `we made a deal'. She never said anything,'' the second accused told Police.

Both accused told Police they believed the woman was "leading them on,'' talking "horney-like... like she was 50-50 if she wanted it or not.'' The victim -- who cannot be named -- earlier testified that around 4 a.m. on December 11 1994, she hitched a cycle ride from the Elbow Beach Staff Club with the two accused after failing to hail a cab.

She told the court that despite sexual advances by the man who was towing her and after riding with him for an unknown time she fell off the bike when it came to an abrupt halt in an unfamiliar area.

She admitted she walked up a dark path with the accused in the paddock area of Equestrian Centre on Vesey Street. It was there she charges the two men, one holding her down with his hand over her mouth, raped her.

In his statement to Police one of the accused confirmed he put his hand over her mouth. When questioned why he put his hand over her mouth the accused replied: "Because she was screaming but she wasn't fighting hard enough...

she didn't do enough to stop us.'' The trial, before Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux, resumes today with Charlene Scott appearing for the Crown and lawyers Archie Warner and Mark Pettingill representing the accused.