One of Bermuda's top detectives revealed yesterday a catalogue of poor practices when he testified at the hearing into serious crime on the Island.

Detective Chief Inspector Carlton Adams, who heads the major crime squad in the force, said to his disappointment the majority of rape cases were not dealt with by his specially trained and more experienced team.

Instead, most were handled by the Community and Juvenile Liaison team, which had inferior training and answered directly to the Deputy Police Commissioner, rather than to a Superintendent.

And the top detective said his officers had to wait between six and nine months to receive DNA samples from serious crimes because there were no facilities on the Island and too much demand for DNA testing abroad, making the processing of evidence and prosecutions slow and difficult.

He said his department was forced to operate without the support of a modern Police-compliant computer system to collate data, having had its budget for one retracted last year.

And he said when the former Government analyst, who had expertise in forensic work, left, he was never replaced, although there are less qualified people still working in the lab.

Det. Chief Insp. Adams also agreed with chairman of the hearing Justice Stanley Moore that the current situation of having all senior officers, apart from Commissioner Jean-Jacques Lemay, in acting roles resulted in "bumping and jostling'' between some officers.

He said the acting roles had been in place for about a year already and he could only be sure that they would be made more permanent in time for Mr.

Lemay's departure in April.

The hearing also heard how allegations had been submitted from a defence barrister, who was not named, that some people arrested and kept in Police cells were denied access to a lawyer and a phone call, as the law stipulates they should be.

The lawyer alleged, by letter, that a noticeboard in the custody area of Hamilton Police Station containing the names of arrested people sometimes had written on it in capital letters, "no visitors, no calls'', next to some detainees' names.

The lawyer also alleged that the board advised people brought in that they "may'' be allowed to have access to a lawyer.

It was also suggested in the hearing by the chairman that complaints had been made that a significant number of prosecutions in Bermuda rested on a confession statement alone and very little other evidence.

Det. Chief Insp. Adams denied that prisoners were ever denied phone calls and were never denied the right to see their counsel, by his team.

Although he admitted that he himself had been called by angry lawyers who had been refused access to clients by more junior officers.

The detective said: "Prisoners are allowed access to lawyers. There may be occasions when they are not permitted to call relatives and friends, but they are allowed to call a lawyer.'' And he said the practise of his department was never to accept only a confession statement as evidence.

He added: "I was always trained to build a case with evidence. Statements must be supported by other evidence.'' And he also agreed that some young officers may not be fully aware of the investigation procedure when arriving on the scene of a major crime, having had little training and having no up-to-date checklist that they can carry with them on duty.

Detective Chief Inspector Carlton Adams: Said his department was forced to operate without the support of a modern Police-compliant computer system to collate data, having had its budget for one retracted last year.