Fresh charges cannot be considered against suspects in the Rebecca Middleton murder case, Chief Justice Richard Ground ruled today.

Dashing the Middleton family's hopes of pushing for convictions over Rebecca's killing, the Chief Justice stated he could not interfere with a previous ruling by Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen that the case should not be re-opened.

Rebecca, 17, from Canada, was stabbed to death while on vacation in Bermuda in 1996. Nobody has ever been convicted of the killing.

At a short hearing today, Mr. Justice Ground expressed his sympathy for Rebecca's family and said he believed they were right to explore every opportunity to compensate for their “terrible loss”.

He added that the family had suffered further because of the way the case had been handled from the beginning.

Last month, British human rights lawyer Cherie Booth QC – representing the Middletons – argued that suspects Kirk Mundy, 31, and Justis Smith, 28, should be charged with sexual assault, abduction, and torture since earlier attempts to try them for murder were bungled.

However, explaining his ruling today, Mr. Justice Ground said to reopen the case would contradict the Island's double jeopardy laws.

“Before I can interfere with the DPP's decision I have to find that she was wrong in law,” he said. “She was not wrong.

“The (double jeopardy) rule is well established and straightforward. Despite the eloquent arguments advanced to the contrary, it is not permissable for me to ignore or modify it. It would require legislation, or possibly the intervention of a higher court, to change it.

“In the absence of that, any judge faced with a prosecution of the sort demanded by the applicant would, whatever he personally thought about the merits of the case or the justice of the cause, be obliged to stay that prosecution as a breach of the rule and an abuse of process.

“That means that there are no grounds on which I can interfere with the exercise of her discretion, and accordingly I dismiss this application.

“I appreciate that that will be a bitter disappointment to the applicant and other members of Rebecca's family, for whom I personally feel great sympathy, but I have to declare the law as it is.”

Stating there would be no order for costs, he added: “The applicant has suffered a terrible loss for which he can never be compensated.

“He has also suffered a wrong in the way the matter has been handled from the outset. He's right to explore every reasonable avenue to put that right.”

At last month's judicial review, Mrs. Graham-Allen's lawyer James Guthrie QC said she regretted that the Middleton family had “suffered great injustice” due to a catalogue of errors before she was in her post.

Representing the family today, John Riihiluoma of law firm Appleby said they would appeal to the Bermuda Court of Appeal.