Hogging the headlines in February were two of the most dramatic court cases the Island had seen in years.

The Cooper twins murder trial started the previous month. But there were scenes of chaos and confusion as the case ended and the jury returned guilty verdicts on Kenneth Burgess and Dennis Robinson.

The twins’ mother, Rochelle Cooper, was raced to hospital after collapsing moments before the fates of her sons’ killers were sealed after a tense, lengthy trial.

A judge later ruled that the pair must spend at least 15 years behind bars for killing the twins in a crime that stunned Bermuda.

Mrs. Cooper, who had recovered from her collapse and was back at court the next morning for the sentencing hearing, danced out of the court and said she was “happy, happy, happy” with the sentences.

The trial heard how Burgess pummelled twins Jahmal and Jahmil to death with a metal baseball bat, before Robinson helped dump the bodies 80 feet down a remote cliff.

The trial heard the savage “vigilante” assault sent blood spraying onto walls of Burgess’ apartment, leaving the young brothers with horrific injuries that probably ended their lives in minutes. A terrified eyewitness who watched the attack unfold said he heard a “tinging” sound as Burgess lashed out and rained down blows with the metal weapon.

The verdicts were greeted with jubilation by family and friends of the 20-year-old twins.

The twins’ sister, Tameya Davis, raced out of court and yelled: “They’re f**king guilty, they’re both f**king guilty — and I am happy about it.”

She told how Mrs. Cooper was dramatically raced to hospital before the verdict was read.

And she revealed how she was trying to get in touch with her mother — because she had no idea the twins’ killers had been caged. There was more courtroom drama later in the month, when Government’s controversial luxury house sale law was challenged.

The case — which started in February but was resolved in March — saw Government’s 2005 decision to ban Bermudians from selling homes to foreigners branded “unlawful” and “an abuse of power” by a Supreme Court judge.

In a case involving the Island’s most expensive residential property, GoldenEye, the judge ruled the Minister in charge had not acted in the public interest when he brought in the controversial policy change a year earlier.

This prevented the sale to non-Bermudians of the palatial property — a ten-bedroom mansion on ‘Billionaires’ Row’ in Tucker’s Town, belonging to property developers Alan and Vera Rosa Marshall.

They were left celebrating after the test ruling allowed them to globally market the $45 million property.

In the wake of the ruling, Government stressed that the policy banning Bermudians selling homes to foreigners remains in place.

It said the legal case only related to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall — and former Premier Alex Scott told The Royal Gazette the ban still stood for others, in a bid to preserve land for Bermudians.