Jurors in a reckless driving trial learned yesterday that a post-mortem blood sample taken from former Permanent Secretary Ernest Owen may have indicated he had four times the legal amount of alcohol in his blood.

The physician whose testimony was entered as evidence, Alan Young, assumed that the high level of alcohol found in Mr. Owen's blood must have been the result of post-mortem contamination of the blood sample.

The reading of 442 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood was inconsistent with the negligible amount of alcohol found in Mr. Owen's urine and the 27 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood found in his liver.

The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Glen Robinson has been charged with causing Mr. Owen's death by reckless and dangerous driving. He was also charged with driving while impaired by alcohol and refusing to give a breath sample.

Although Dr. Young was no longer on the Island, the mortuary attendant who took the sample of blood was called to the witness stand in Supreme Court yesterday.

Donna Stowe said she assisted in the autopsy performed on Mr. Owen, and that she took the sample of blood from his chest cavity.

She said the doctors are usually responsible for taking the blood sample, and admitted she was not familiar with the procedure.

"This was the first time I had taken a blood sample... I don't remember why the doctor didn't take the sample himself,'' she said. But under cross-examination from defence attorney Julian Hall, she admitted that alcohol was not used during any stage of the autopsy procedure. When Mr. Hall asked her how the blood could possibly be contaminated by alcohol, Principal Crown Counsel Khamisi Tokunbo objected that her training would not enable her to answer the question.

And Ms Stowe made the distinction between the difference in her training as a mortician and that of a morgue technician -- which she had learned on the job.

Mr. Hall requested the trial be adjourned for the day so he could have sufficient information about a mortician's training.

Ms Stowe was one of the 12 Crown witnesses who gave statements in Supreme Court yesterday. In earlier testimony, the Court heard that Mr. Owen left the Pomander Road bridge club shortly before the fatal crash.

Crown witness Colin Moran testified yesterday that the club had bar cards for each of their patrons that showed the amount of drinks purchased over the course of the month, although he added that "there was no way of telling what was consumed on any particular night''.

Mr. Moran, who was the bridge club's president at the time of Mr. Owen's death, said it was common practice to destroy the monthly card after the bill was paid.

But he said he destroyed Mr. Owen's bar card a few days after his death despite the fact that the bill had not been settled.

"Since I was aware of the tragic circumstances of his death, I did not want to bother Ernie's wife about it. It would not be appropriate to bother her at that time,'' he said.

When Mr. Hall cross-examined Mr. Moran, he asked: "given the fact that Dr.

Young found more than four times the legal limit of alcohol in Mr. Owen's blood, I want to know what was in your mind when you decided to destroy the records?'' Mr. Tokunbo objected to the question, which he termed "unfair and inappropriate''.

"It presupposes that the witness knew of Dr. Young's findings when he destroyed the card, and Mr. Hall did not inform the witness that the blood sample was assumed to be contaminated,'' he said.

Mr. Moran said he had not heard about the findings of the blood samples until Mr. Hall told him.

Earlier in the day, the jury visited the site of the road accident to get a clearer idea of the visibility on the curves as well as the position of eye-witness Ernest Thomas' cycle, Mr. Owen's cycle, and the van driven by Robinson.

Mr. Thomas continued his testimony yesterday and stated that he recalled seeing "about half'' of the van driven by Robinson cross the centre line. He added that Mr. Owen's cycle remained on the proper side of the road, even when it swerved to avoid the van.

The trial continues.