a maximum prison sentence of two years if they set foot in Bermuda again.

The Meades, who ran the Blue Oyster Restaurant, at Dockyard, left Bermuda late last month leaving behind debts estimated at $250,000.

Lawyers said yesterday there were several areas of Bermuda criminal law which applied to people who flee the Island leaving behind debts.

In particular, Section 400 of Bermuda's Criminal Code makes it a felony for a person to leave the Island with at least $250 in assets which could be otherwise distributed to creditors.

This section of the law is conditional on a petition of liquidation or bankruptcy being presented to Supreme Court within four months of a debtor leaving the Island.

In the case of the Meades, their former commercial landlord, Mr. Tony Smith, has already won a judgment of $6,485 jointly against them and their company, Docklands Trading Co.

Mr. Smith said yesterday he is in the process of having Docklands Trading Co.

wound up.

A felony under this section carries a maximum prison sentence of 12 months if convicted at Magistrates Court or two years if convicted by a jury at Supreme Court.

A senior lawyer on the Island said: "Any prosecutor worth his salt would have a field day against someone who disappeared owing a lot of money.'' As far as civil cases are concerned, there are various measures creditors can take to ensure the Meades would not be able to re-enter Bermuda for at least 20 years without being held liable for their debts.

It emerged yesterday that the couple appear to have laid a false trail before they left.

A private investigator hired by their creditors has established they have not settled in Canada, as most people had believed.

In the months before their departure, the Meades had let on that they wanted to set up a business in Whistler, British Columbia.

They had told friends and creditors that they would first sell the Blue Oyster Restaurant before moving to the ski resort.

But Mr. Smith said yesterday: "We know they have not entered Canada legally.'' Creditors have been given information to that effect from Canadian immigration officials.

The only way the Meades could have entered Canada would have been under false names.

It is now known that the couple flew to Logan Airport, in Boston, when they bolted from Bermuda on September 20 with their two-year-old daughter.

"The trail comes to a halt there,'' said Mr. Smith. "They could be anywhere now.'' But he warned them: "You can't hide forever, the world is too small. Sooner or later someone will bump into them.'' Mrs. Meade's mother, Mrs. Shirley Madeiros, became agitated when The Royal Gazette asked her yesterday if she knew where her daughter was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about it,'' she said, before abruptly putting the phone down.

Mr. Smith is currently trying to find someone to take over the Blue Oyster and is in the process of interviewing several interested parties.

The restaurant is likely to reopen in the New Year, he said.

Mr. Smith seized the Blue Oyster and its contents as soon as news of the Meades departure became known.

He said the couple had made no attempt to clean the place up before they disappeared.

"There were dirty dishes and food left lying around,'' he said. "The freezers were also full of food. A lot of food had to be destroyed.

"It appears they just ran out of the door.''