Governor Thorold Masefield yesterday ordered a public inquiry into the handling of the Rebbeca Middleton murder case.

A Commission of Inquiry, expected to consist of up to five experts from Bermuda and overseas, will examine the failure to convict anyone of her murder and will look at investigation procedures in general for serious crimes.

The announcement was welcomed by the Canadian schoolgirl's mother, Cindy Bennett, who is still angry because no one has been convicted of the murder of her daughter.

Mrs Bennett, speaking from Canada, told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "This is very good news. Hopefully the facts should reveal the events that led to the demise of this whole thing.

"The Bermudian people will get this inquiry and they and the people of Canada should know what's going on in Bermuda.

"I hate the word closure. When your daughter is murdered there is no such word as closure even if someone is convicted.'' Deputy Governor Tim Gurney said that the Commissioners will have the power to compel witnesses in Bermuda, but not overseas, to give evidence.

He said the intention is for the inquiry, which is expected to begin later this summer when Commissioners are indentified, to be open to the public and for its findings to be published.

Two of the main players in the case, the former Attorney General Elliott Mottley and the then Police Commissioner Colin Coxall, no longer live in Bermuda.

Mr. Gurney said it would be up to the Commissioners to decide whether they wanted to invite Mr. Mottley, Mr. Coxall or the Middleton family to give evidence.

Ms Middleton, 17, was stabbed to death and raped in July 1996 in Ferry Reach.

The Crown attempted to charge two people with her murder, Kirk Orlando Mundy and Justis Smith.

Following a series of legal battles, Mr Smith was released because a Supreme Court judge ruled there was no case to answer, while Mundy was jailed in October 1996 for five years after the Crown allowed him to plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact.

Middleton case public inquiry The decision was taken before Police completed forensic tests. DNA tests later showed Mundy's semen was inside the dead girl's body. Top Police officers involved in the original case have stated senior Police were not consulted about the decision to allow Mundy to plead guilty and they have blamed the Attorney General's Office for the failure to convict anyone of the schoolgirl's murder.

The Crown prosecutor in the case was Khamisi Tokunbo.

Mr. Tokunbo said it was not for him to say whether there should be an inquiry into the case, but added: "I don't think there would be any harm and I would hope it would be an opportunity for all parties to declare what went on. It was a mess almost from start to finish.'' When asked whether he thought he and the Attorney General's Chambers had handled the case properly, he said: "I will confine myself to saying that I'm happy with my conduct.'' In an earlier interview yesterday before the Governor announced the inquiry, he said: "The Middleton case was a tragic case for everyone involved.

"The only thing I would say is that there is some misinformation out there as to what exactly did take place and I would prefer not to go into detail as there might be an inquiry.

"Suffice to say, the misinformation consists of a suggestion that officers were not aware of the AG's decision to take a plea from Mundy to accessory after the fact. Secondly, that there was a rush to charge in the absence of DNA. Thirdly, the decision to revert to try to charge Mundy was based on DNA.

Neither of these three were correct.''