Eleven years on from her brutal death, the legacy of murdered teenager Rebecca Middleton will be honoured by a programme to protect other young women.

The Rebecca Middleton Foundation, a charity promoting victim support and crime prevention, has bought 50 personal alarms to be distributed through the Women’s Resource Centre.

Rebecca, a 17-year-old Canadian tourist, was raped and murdered in July 1996 after accepting a lift on a bike from strangers after a night out in St. George’s. The failure of the criminal justice system to secure a murder conviction has been branded a botched job by relatives of the teenager.

While the Foundation has helped the family to campaign fresh legal proceedings against suspects in the case, it also works toward protecting other young women in Bermuda.

Kim Smith, a volunteer with the charity, said the personal alarms feature a siren and security light and are designed for women to carry when they feel vulnerable — although they are not intended to lure them into a false sense of security.

When they arrive on the Island within the next two weeks, they will be delivered to the Women’s Resource Centre in the first link-up between the two charities.

Kathy Harriott from the Centre said they will go to any client who wants one. She welcomed the partnership with the Foundation, commenting that together: “We can reach more people and have more of a flow of information back and forth.”

The personal safety devices have been ordered through the Lucie Blackman Trust, a British charity promoting education and safety that gave a discount price to the foundation.

Ms Blackman, a 21-year-old woman from Kent in England, was working as a bar hostess in Japan when she was found murdered near Tokyo in 2001. Japanese businessman Joji Obara, 54, was cleared earlier this year of involvement in her death but jailed for life for raping nine women, one of whom died. Prosecutors are to appeal against the acquittal.

Ms Smith said that the Lucie Blackman Trust has made overtures to the Rebecca Middleton Foundation in terms of a linked working relationship in future due to the similarity of the cases.

Welcoming the prospect, she said plans are in the very early stages but more news should be available soon.

Women to get personal alarms