Lawyers for former Police officer Tony Bukhari are to apply to have the manslaughter charge relating to his girlfriend's death thrown out of court.

Lawyer Juan Wolffe, holding the case for Bukhari's attorney Delroy Duncan, told Chief Justice Austin Ward yesterday that Mr. Duncan intended to make a Section 504 application to quash the "invalid'' indictment.

Bukhari was charged in June last year for the part he allegedly played in the death of the former Royal Gazette sub-editor Elizabeth Cadell, 33, who was also a British expatriate living in Bermuda.

Her body was found in the couple's apartment on Harvey Hill Road on May 31, 1997 and a post mortem examination revealed she had swallowed 150 aspirin.

Bukhari, who served with the Bermuda Police Service since his arrival in Bermuda in 1990 from the United Kingdom, did not have to enter a plea during his brief Supreme Court appearance yesterday.

Mr. Justice Ward adjourned the case until February 15 for mention, and said on that day a date would be arranged for the hearing of Mr. Duncan's application.

And the judge also ordered a Social Inquiry Report for a 37-year-old Pembroke man who yesterday pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female resident of Bermuda during September last year.

Defence counsel Renee Foggo represented the man -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- and he was detained in custody until his next court appearance.

Ms. Foggo requested the SIR since this was the first offence of this nature on the man's record.

Mr. Justice Ward ordered the report be ready for the man's sentencing on March 1.

The judge also ordered charges against suspected cocaine smuggler Richard Ricardo Steede be adjourned until March 8 and his bail be extended.

On that date he will face charges of possessing cocaine and cannabis intended for supply, obstructing a police woman and using offensive words in public.

Mr. Justice Ward also scheduled the trial of American man Ronald Henry Romanowicz for February 22.

Romanowicz, formerly of Salem, Virginia, but presently remanded in custody in Bermuda, has denied importing, possessing and handling cannabis and cannabis resin.

The sentencing of Ronald Raymond Wilson was adjourned until March 1.

Wilson -- who pleaded guilty to three charges relating to an attempt to rob the Harrington Hundreds grocery store last June -- was remanded in custody.

Mr. Justice Ward adjourned the sentencing of Harry McDonald Ford until February 15 and extended his $2,500 bail until that date.