yesterday when her decorative soldier was returned.

The life-size soldier, one of a pair, had been stolen from the gate of the Flood's Flatt's home last Sunday.

And Mrs. Flood had just about given up hope of seeing her unique creation again.

But she was contacted yesterday after employees from Island Cleaning Services saw an article about the theft in The Royal Gazette .

"We received a call from Island Cleaning, informing us that some of their workers found the soldier in the garbage (in Hamilton),'' she said.

The workers took the five-foot blue, white, and black-painted soldier to the company's office and left it there.

"They did not know what to do with it,'' Mrs. Flood added. "Then they saw the article in the paper and called us. I never really thought we would see him again.'' Other than a few nicks and scratches, the soldier -- which took Mrs. Flood some two weeks to make -- was in good condition.

Mrs. Flood said she was still baffled that someone would go through so much trouble to take the decoration which was secured with screws to the Flood's wall.

"They had to have a battery-operated screw driver to take it down,'' she said. "It was quite deliberately done. They had to have had the right screw driver.

"But after they received it, they must have thought what will I do with this.'' The Floods, however, are determined to make any possibility of a future theft difficult.

"We're now using a specifically-designed screwdriver to put it (the soldier) back up,'' Mrs. Flood said.

Mr. Scott said evidence elsewhere appeared to show that the death penalty did not act as a deterrent and could even increase the murder rate due to the strong motivation for killers to wipe out potential witnesses.

Mr. Scott added there was also a strong religious streak in Bermuda and many agreed with the Commandment "thou shalt not kill'' -- under any circumstances.

But he added his party shared in the outpouring of sympathy for the latest victim of murder -- and pledged the support of the PLP and its Sandys representatives in doing anything it could to assist Police.

PLP Lois Browne Evans -- a long-time opponent of the death penalty who has acted in many capital cases in the past, including being part of the team who defended Burrows -- said a time when emotions were running high was not an opportune moment to discuss the issue.

She added: "Everybody knows where I am, always have been and always will be until the day I die.'' Mrs. Browne Evans, however, agreed that a death penalty on the statute books which was unlikely ever to be used again was "pointless.'' But she said: "Everything goes through peaks and valleys -- with all these drugs and things, right now we are in a peak of violence, not a valley. It's not a good time to talk about abolition.'' An end to capital punishment is not seen as an option by at least some MPs.

Government Whip and lawyer Rick Spurling said he was "marginally pro'' the death penalty.

He admitted: "I have some doubts about it being preventative, but I'm also sensitive to what people feel and demand in terms of justice.

"Sometimes we forget about victims and are increasingly sympathetic to those who commit crimes and that doesn't sit well with the public.'' And the PLP's Reginald Burrows, one of a handful of MPs on his side to back Bermuda keeping capital punishment in two votes of conscience in Parliament prior to the referendum, said his view had not changed.

Mr. Burrows said: "I have always been of the opinion, as a senior Member of Parliament and one of the older members, that if a person takes someone's life and they are found guilty, the state should take their life.

"It's is an eye for an eye -- but not a vigilante-type eye for an eye. The law must take its course.