nightmare and said: "This is for my Bermudian friends who supported me.'' The former Bermuda resident has battled for eight years against a tax fraud charge.

Now the allegation has been dropped -- and he can finally relaunch his career.

"Naturally I am overjoyed, but at the moment I feel completely washed out,'' he told The Royal Gazette from his Canberra home.

"It is as if a great stress has been lifted from me. I can at last get on with my life.'' It also means the 49-year-old, who married former Royal Gazette chief reporter Miss Pamela Catty, is no longer a virtual prisoner in Australia.

For the authorities have now returned the passport they confiscated.

Mr. Connell's life was plunged into turmoil after he was charged in 1984 with conspiracy to defraud the Commonwealth of Australia.

The allegation related to his involvement in an Australian tax advisory business in 1979 and 1980.

It was claimed he had engaged in a tax evasion scheme.

Many others, too, faced similar accusations in one of Australia's most remarkable white collar crime prosecutions.

According to one account, alleged tax frauds involved 6,688 companies, between $500 and $1 billion in evaded taxes.

For Mr. Connell the wheels of the country's legal system turned at an agonisingly slow pace.

A pre-trial committal hearing ground on for three or four years.

The trial itself took place this year in the Supreme Court in Sydney, dragging on for six months.

Mr. Connell, representing himself, managed to persuade 11 of the jurors of his innocence.

One juror, however, failed to be convinced -- and under New South Wales law defendants can only be cleared by unanimous verdicts.

Nevertheless with a second trial yet more delays and more expenditure seemed likely.

"The judge strongly hinted the case should be dropped,'' said Mr. Connell.

"The prosecution later decided it was not in the public interest to continue.'' Mr. Connell said he felt more "introspective'' than ebullient with the case over.

"I haven't really been out celebrating. I did though have a couple of drinks, and toasted all my friends in Bermuda.

"I would like to thank them all for supporting me over the years. They were unstinting in their support.'' Mr. Connell lived in Bermuda throughout the 1970s, working for an investment management company.

He made a brief return visit to the Island in 1984, before returning to Australia to face the fraud charge.

His plight has been followed by his friends in Bermuda, who have strongly defended him.

One, Mr. Colin O'Connor said: "I am obviously very pleased with the outcome of the case. It should never have been brought in the first place.''