RICHARD Ashenheim ¿ a Jamaican lawyer and a senior figure in that country's most influential newspaper ¿ has died at his home in Bermuda. He was 80 years old.

He served for many years on The Gleaner's board of directors and as that newspaper's lawyer ¿ representing it in commercial, libel and tax matters.

Mr. Ashenheim was educated at Jamaica College and Oxford University, where he read law. Upon returning to Jamaica, he soon became one of the island's most eminent attorneys. Indeed, when his death was announced this week, the president of the Jamaican Bar Association John Leiba lauded him as "an outstanding legal luminary especially in the area of libel and slander".

Mr. Ashenheim's involvment with The Gleaner lasted 40 years. He was chairman during the turbulent late 1970s in Jamaica, when the socialist Prime Minister Michael Manley declared a state of emergency and curtailed press freedoms. The Gleaner ¿ which was often critical of Manley's government ¿ came under attack from the Prime Minister, who led a protest march to its offices in 1979.

"It was the most difficult time for The Gleaner because we had to comply to some extent, but we got out of it by shaming the government. We showed them that they were being too fussy," he said.

At the time, The Gleaner had a formidable team of columnists, including David DaCosta, Morris Cargill and John Hearne, who were critical of Manley's policies. Things came to a head on September 24, 1979 when the Prime Minister led supporters on a march on the newspaper's North Street offices. Mr. Ashenheim said not even the sight of a fist-shaking Manley intimidated The Gleaner administrators.

"They thought we were anti-government, but I thought if they were misbehaving, we had the right to damn well attack them," Mr. Ashenheim said.

Mr. Ashenheim came from a family with a long-standing involvement in the newspaper. In fact, it was said upon his retirement last year that it was the first time in the paper's history that no member of the Ashenhiem family sat on the Gleaner's board.

Mr. Ashenheim will be remembered primarily as an eminent lawyer, but he was also a distinguished sportsman. He served as president of the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association and covered eight Olympic Games for The Gleaner.

He moved to Bermuda ¿ where his father had owned property on Pitts Bay Road ¿ early last year, citing the troubling crime rate in Jamaica as the reason for relocating.

One of his close aquaintences in Bermuda was architect Philip Seaman. Mr. Seaman told the Mid-Ocean News yesterday that he would remember Mr. Ashenheim as a "great guy" with a "brilliant mind".

"He had joined the Yacht Club since he moved here and I had taken him to a few Lodge meetings," said Mr. Seaman. "He was a great guy talk with. I spent a great deal of time discussing legal matters in Bermuda with him, because he had extensive experience as a lawyer in Jamaica. He was still sharp up until a couple of weeks ago.

"He really was a great guy, lots of fun to be around."

Mr. Ashenheim is survived by his wife Ursala, sons Michael and Lewis and four grandchildren.