new job last week. And in spite of some criticisms and the departures of some his veteran prosecutors, he tells Patrick Burgess his department is in its best shape ever.

Recent comments that prosecutors are not seasoned enough to present the Crown's cases is unfounded, Bermuda 's top prosecutor claimed yesterday.

And with the employment of Vinette Graham-Allen at the beginning of October, and the imminent arrival of another senior lawyer this week, Khamisi Tokunbo says he has all of his ducks in a row since becoming Director of Public Prosecutions this spring.

Mr. Tokunbo spoke to The Royal Gazette last week, shortly before a monthly department-wide meeting, about his first six months in office.

He claimed that several of his staffers are as competent at criminal law as other lawyers in the Island, particularly after they have spent months and years as the "plea court'' prosecutor.

"That's why the private sector goes after them so strongly,'' he said.

"Three years experience as prosecutor in the lower courts is more experience than some of those people running their mouths have!'' Citing the example of Larry Mussenden who was the latest senior Crown counsel to depart, Mr. Tokunbo said his staff regularly come up against the other lawyers in the Island -- who then recruit them.

"It's when they start wreaking havoc on the private sector that they head-hunt them. I expect that,'' he added.

The problem is not new, Mr. Tokunbo said, and added it is found among prosecution offices around the world.

"The trick is keeping them,'' he added with a smile. "One of my long-term goals is to search for replacements for the more senior foreign personnel with competent Bermudians. That comes with a caveat that as much as that might be the endeavour, there is a problem retaining them. That's a fact of life! "We have the best training and development of quality lawyers and that's one of the reasons we've been vulnerable to the private sector because of that programme.

"Yes, they (junior Crown counsels) will come up against more seasoned counsel,'' Mr. Tokunbo continued. "That's the way they will learn. The problem has been compounded by the fact that prior to my appointment, the position was that Magistrates' Court was the domain of the less experienced lawyers.'' He added: "I've indicated that all counsel should be prepared to go to Magistrates' Court. I think it's important that Senior Crown counsel go there.'' Mr. Tokunbo explained that he had started the policy partly to account for who the defence lawyer was going to be, but also to allow the junior prosecutors time to observe their more experienced colleagues in action.

It will also give them time to appear in the Supreme Court for relatively routine guilty pleas and sentencing hearings as well as for appeals of lower court cases.

Mr. Tokunbo even highlighted the work of Crown counsel Cindy Clarke, whose pupilage he said was symptomatic of the old way of doing things.

"Ms Clarke did her full pupilage here and after six months she was thrown in at the deep end of plea court,'' he said. "But she handled it and handled it very well even though she had not been called to the Bar. She was perceived as inexperienced but that's not true. She quickly learned like they all have had to do. That won't be happening again though.'' Mr. Tokunbo said the recruitment of Dorian Taylor and Mrs. Graham-Allen as Principal Crown counsel and Senior Crown counsel will go a long way to filling any gaps his department may have.

And he bristled at the suggestion that he hired the West Indian pair to the exclusion of lawyers from other parts of the world.

"I got applications from around the world,'' he said. "And the best and most experienced and most competent are the ones that I chose.'' He added: "What disturbs me is that anyone would be concerned that these people come from the Caribbean. When they came from England or Canada it wasn't an issue.'' After more than six months on the job, Mr. Tokonbo said he has put in place almost all of his short-term objectives including providing in-house training for all of his staff, including secretaries.

The biggest job has been the physical separation of the DPP from the Attorney General's Chambers, to complete Government's desire for a non-political top prosecutor.

All that is left is the completion of the process of attaining a "vote'' within the Government accounting structure for which he is completely responsible.

As it stands now, the DPP's budget is still the responsibility of the Attorney General's Chambers -- which Mr. Tokunbo finds unsatisfactory.

"We had the same letterhead, the same telephone number and some of us were still sharing the same office with the AGs,'' he said. "Now we're almost independent of the AG's but of course we keep a close liaison with them.'' Mr. Tokunbo laid down the law in the department by addressing "law and order, mutual harmony and respect'' among the lawyers.

"There was little or no leadership or direction in the DPP,'' he added. "It was a major objective for me to do that early.'' When asked for an example of problems within the department, Mr. Tokunbo said: "People would speak to the press willy nilly.

"There was disloyalty and some morale issues,'' he added. "I'm convinced that they have, by and large, been arrested and if anything, we're ranking very high in terms of respect and harmony, law, direction and discipline.

"Counsel can speak to the press -- they just have to get clearance,'' he explained. There's nothing wrong with speaking to the press.

"They just can't give a comment about the case. If a reporter wants the correct spelling of a name or clarify a point of law or something like that, fine.

"There is no gag on them, just control of the public comments -- and there are good examples of that,'' he concluded but refused to elaborate.

With the departure at the end of the year of Patrick Doherty, the DPP will have to seek a replacement but he is confident that as he completes one year in the job he has a well-equipped roster of lawyers.

In addition to Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Graham-Allen, Bermudians like Charlene Scott, Juan Wolffe and Charmaine Smith are "more than competent'' at prosecuting cases, Mr. Tokunbo added.

Training centre: Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tikunbo says the best prosecutors are "head-hunted'' by private law firms.