The head of the Prison Officers union has stepped forward to defend the Island's wardens in the face of a rape accusation.

Saying officers have "complete and utter disdain'' for the way the investigation has been handled, Lynn Hall, has written to Labour, Home Affairs, and Public Safety Minister Paula Cox.

Mr. Hall, chairman of the Prison Officers Association, claimed the department's "greatest asset'' -- the morale of rank and file officers -- was plunging.

But Ms Cox last night reaffirmed the right of innocence for everyone and said Police were still actively investigating the allegation.

In January, a female British prisoner accused two prison officers of raping her after a third gave her alcohol.

The three were suspended and two were arrested and later bailed. Charges have not been laid.

The 19-year-old was taken to Holloway Prison in London last week and faces her first parole hearing later this autumn, for importing $66,000 worth of heroin in February 1997.

This week her mother blasted the prison service in the wake of reports that the woman's allegations were close to collapsing.

In the letter, Mr. Hall claimed the prison's investigators had disregarded the Union's collective bargaining agreement with Government.

"The general consensus amongst our members is that any inmate can now level any allegation of impropriety on the part of any Prison Officer,'' he wrote.

"And that officer, in turn, is treated as the criminal.'' Mr. Hall gave a chronology of the events since the rape allegation, including the fact that all officers at the facility had been questioned, and the woman was held at a safe house.

He also disclosed that procedural changes were instituted at the facility immediately after the internal investigation and Police investigation. "The implications for us are such that officers believe they are assumed guilty until they are proven innocent,'' Mr. Hall wrote.

After reminding Ms Cox of a meeting with the Association on February 15, Mr.

Hall wrote the situation had not restored morale in an atmosphere that he said was at an all-time low.

Prisons "It would be remiss of me not to state that the discrepancies have the potential of escalating an already volatile situation,'' he added.

Mr. Hall encouraged Ms Cox to see through the completion of the Police investigation and that charges be laid or the officers be exonerated and reinstated immediately.

But Ms Cox said last night: "The Police investigation is continuing.

Obviously people are innocent until proven guilty.

"Certainly we take the view that there must be due process,'' she added. "No one can preempt the resolution of the investigation.'' Ms Cox said the extradition of the woman was a "prudent'' decision in the face of possible taunting.

There was also reciprocity for Bermudians imprisoned abroad facing similar situations.

"We can't always look at the bottom line with respect to overtime and the safe house,'' she said. "The bottom line during an investigation is caution.'' Costs for the extradition and any subsequent return to Bermuda for court hearings or trials is part of Government's Budget.

"It is certainly the understanding of Government that she would be returned,'' Ms Cox said.