officers in Bermuda were "a law unto themselves''.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) told The Commission of Inquiry into Serious Crimes that he had major concerns about the discipline and loyalty in the Police force.

And echoing comments made by defence barrister Marc Telemaque at Tuesday's hearing, Mr. Tokunbo said: "I don't wish to embarrass anybody, but I know that senior officers are unable to utilise their rank.

"If I use the Scenes of Crime (SOCO) department as an example -- there is an inspector involved in the SOCO department, but there may also be a chief inspector or superintendent in charge of an investigation.

"I have seen cases where that superintendent is unable to dictate what he wants from that (SOCO) office.

"For example, instead of getting specified photographs, we get contact sheets.'' The chief prosecutor went on to say that favouritism played a large part in the service, with junior officers who were close friends with the right people refusing to answer to their immediate superiors.

He added: "I also know that the Bermuda Police force is a reflection of the wider community in that it depends on the relationships officers have with people.

"An inspector may be more influential than a chief inspector or superintendent.'' Chairman of the commission, a former Attorney General in Montserratt, Justice Stanley Moore asked Mr. Tokunbo if the situation could be likened to "God Fathers'' anointing "God Sons''.

The top prosecutor replied: "I don't think you are overstating it. Some of them are a law unto themselves.'' Bermudian lawyer Shirley Simmons, who is also a commissioner along with former British deputy chief constable Don Dovaston, asked Mr. Tokunbo whether race or nationality ever played a part in the prosecution of cases.

The witness said: "You can have suspicions that this is happening, but it's very difficult to prove.

"I have had suspicions or instincts about attitudes with regards investigations.'' He said his suspicions tended to relate to less serious cases.

But during his testimony yesterday, Mr. Tokunbo also heavily criticised SOCO and also said there seemed to be little understanding of what roles the Police and Government analyst played.

He said following the Dean Young murder trial in April of this year, prosecutors and Police met to have a postmortem of the case.

He said it became clear that senior officers in the major crime unit were unaware that they were responsible and in overall control of all exhibits used in cases.

He said Detective Chief Inspector Carlton Adams and Detective Inspector Howard Cutts, who heads the SOCO department, were "indicating that they had no control over the Government analyst (GA), that he (GA) decided what he was going to send where. I had to say `these are your exhibits to do with what you want.' "Cutts said `have you ever tried to tell the chief medical officer what you want'.

"I thought that was a defeatist approach. They did not understand their roles.'' Mr. Tokunbo went on to tell the hearing how the SOCO unit had made a glaring error during the investigation into the Young murder by failing to take blood samples from three different areas at the scene of the crime. Fortunately, for the prosecution, that was not commented on by the defence counsel and Bermuda's highly experienced forensic pathologist John Obafunwa had carried out extensive research and tests into the events surrounding the fatal stabbing.

However, Mr. Tokunbo said the SOCO unit had failed to work alongside the pathologist and only offered certain pieces of information when they were pressed by prosecutors.

Mr. Tokunbo added: "While he (Dr. Obafunwa) was doing his own thing, where was the SOCO people -- I don't know that they did their own thing.

"Maybe the chief investigating officer needs to dictate what he wants done at the scene.

"We have a forensic pathologist doing one thing, we have the Government analyst -- he went there and did his thing -- and then we have SOCO doing their thing.'' But the chief prosecutor also revealed that during that same investigation, a uniformed Police officer in charge of securing the property and ensuring the scene was not contaminated, allowed a neighbour to go inside to collect something.

"The scene was supposed to be secure, but it was breached,'' he added.

Mr. Dovaston asked Mr. Tokunbo if anybody had made formal complaints, for example to Police Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay, about the errors, to which he said he had "no idea''.

The commissioner asked: "Do you not think it's part of your responsibility to do that?'' The witness replied: "Yes, I accept that. I make no excuses except that I'm trying to do a number of things, including organise my own department.'' During his testimony yesterday, Mr. Tokunbo was also asked what he thought about some of Mr. Telemaque's allegations, regarding the treatment of suspects, how some confession statements were obtained improperly, the length of time suspects were held in custody before charging and whether or not bail was considered a "privilege'' by Police and prosecutors, rather than a right.

Justice Mr. Moore asked if Police and the Crown relied on confession statements to take cases to court.

The DPP said: "That sounds like something a defence counsellor would say.

That's not my experience.

"The bulk of my experience is that cases contain more than confession statements. I am not able to agree with that.'' He said in the past there may have been a number of confessions that were obtained by improper means, but he said the problem was no longer so frequent.

Mr. Tokunbo added: "I think for the most part, Bermuda Police officers are decent and proper when taking statements from people. I certainly would not support or allow that kind of behaviour.'' And he said prosecutors never automatically objected to defendants being granted bail, but did put up objections where they saw fit.

The chairman said: "There is more than a hint of belief that the granting of bail is treated as a privilege.'' Mr. Tokunbo replied: "People are entitled to bail, unless reasons can be shown where they ought not to have it.

"I believe that the magistrates that preside at the magistrates court are vigorous in ensuring that people are not detained unnecessarily.

"Objections to bail are not something that are made loosely.''