servant was killed has been blocked.

A judgment handed down by the Supreme Court has barred a writ issued by lawyers acting for the widow of Ernest Denis Owen against Glen Envoy Cansdale Robinson, following the fatal accident in 1995.

Mrs. Susan Owen had instructed lawyers to make a claim against Mr. Robinson -- who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving after the crash -- for damages.

But Puisne Judge Philip Storr ruled that an extension time to a writ issued against the defendant be set aside -- stopping, at present, any civil lawsuit that could have arisen.

Mr. Owen, 52, who was Permanent Secretary of Labour and Home Affairs, was killed in March 1995, after his motorcycle collided with a van driven by Robinson.

In August 1997, a Supreme Court jury found Robinson not guilty of causing death by reckless driving, impaired driving and refusing to give a breath sample.

Later that year, Robinson pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was banned from driving for two and a half years, and fined $1,000.

According to the Supreme Court judgment, Mrs. Owen asked Saul Froomkin of Mello, Hollis, Jones and Martin to make a claim against Robinson.

The court document then states "on March 25, 1998, Mr. Froomkin was apparently reminded, possibly by his client, that it was the third anniversary of Mr. Owen's death. Mr. Froomkin had not appreciated the significance of that date until one of his partners reminded him that, in fatal accident cases, the limitation period was three not six years''.

The judgment also states that a writ was then issued the same day, but not served. Its validity expired in March this year, with no application made to extend its life.

It also stated that Mr. Froomkin wrote to John Cooper of Cox, Hallett and Wilkinson -- who had been acting for Robinson's insurers -- enclosing a copy of the writ, but the service was "irregular'' and the writ's validity had expired 15 days prior.

But in May this year, Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller ordered the writ's validity be extended by three months from March.

The following month, after the writ had been served, Mr. Cooper made an application to set aside the order renewing the validity of the writ and its service.

Mr. Justice Storr agreed with the application and said he could "see no good reason for non-service of the writ during its validity'' and he added "nor do I find that the plaintiff has given any satisfactory explanation for her failure to apply for an extension of the validity of such writ before its validity expired''.

He ordered that the plaintiff pay Robinson's legal costs.