The father of murdered Canadian teenager Rebecca Middleton said he believed Bermuda had lost a vital opportunity to review the double jeopardy law to enable people to be tried twice for the same offence.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette after the House of Assembly rejected a motion to recommend changes to the law, he said, as the legal system stood, it was unfair and imbalanced .

He said it was not fair that a convicted person could appeal his conviction if new evidence came to light to prove his innocence, when Police and prosecutors did not enjoy the same opportunities.

And Mr. Middleton said while he believed convicted people should have that right, enforcers of the law should also have the power to try people a second time if new and compelling evidence later arose. Mr. Middleton has spoken out strongly on the double jeopardy rule since no one was convicted of the murder of his 17-year-old daughter Becky in Bermuda in July, 1996.

He said: "I would say this was a great opportunity for Bermuda to take this issue and do something positive with it.

"I see a change in the law as a step in the right direction - it would make the system more just.

"I do not look at our legal system and justice as the same thing. The legal system is a way of handling issues, which are usually people issues. One way or another, the legal system settles disputes. Justice is about making sure that the perpetrators of crime get their just desserts. That does not always happen with our legal system."

Becky was raped, tortured and brutally stabbed to death at Ferry Reach while on holiday in Bermuda, staying with her best friend's family.

Nobody has been convicted of the 17 year old's murder, although two suspects, Justis Smith and Kirk Mundy, were arrested and charged in connection with her death.

Smith was acquitted of murder after the judge deemed there to be insufficient evidence for the case to go to the jury - a decision later labelled as "astonishing" by the Privy Council in London.

Prosecutors went to the Privy Council in an attempt to get the decision overturned, but were told that under the law, once a person had been acquitted, he could not be tried again.

Mundy received just five years for his part after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact. He blamed his friend Mr. Smith for the fatal attack.

But Mundy was charged with the offence before expert evidence had been obtained from scientists overseas and before DNA results had been returned to Bermuda. It was later suggested that he had played a much larger role in her death.

And forensic experts in the US said it was likely two people had been involved in the murder - one to hold Becky down, while the other inflicted the injuries.

The bungled case, which led to severe criticisms of both the Police and Prosecution, caused a massive public outcry.

As a result, in 2000 a month-long inquiry was held in to the detection and prosecution of serious crime on the Island, leading to more than 60 recommendations being made by the commissioners. Among them was a recommendation that legislators in Bermuda consider changes to the law to enable prosecutors to appeal such acquittal decisions by judges.

Opposition Legislative Affairs spokesman John Barritt tabled the motion for Members of the House to recommend that changes to the double jeopardy law be carried out to enable people to be tried twice for the same offence if fresh and compelling evidence comes to light. But the vote was lost by 16 votes to 13.

Mr. Middleton said: "The fact of the matter is that some people can get away with murder, as we know, but if new evidence comes forward that would change the complexion of the whole issue, we should be able to go back to court. But it's not lost because this was only the first attempt. If Government was not happy with the motion, they could have amended it.

"But I guess this is politics. To me, though, it does not matter who the suggestion comes from. If it's a worth while cause then people should back it, no matter which side they support."

Some Members of Government said they were against the motion on Friday because they believed God would finally give justice on those who had done wrong.

But Mr. Middleton, while agreeing with the basic sentiment, said it was not good enough to simply leave justice to God.

He said: "If God will give out justice, then we don't need a justice system at all. That's a complete nonsense.

"I believe it will be in the counting at the end of our lives, but we need to protect the victims of society and putting it off is not good."