A suspect who could face fresh charges over Rebecca Middleton’s death cannot have a fair trial because the public has convicted him of murder in their own minds, his lawyer claimed.

Charles Richardson was fighting a bid by the Middleton family to have his client Kirk Mundy and fellow suspect Justis Smith tried for sex assault, kidnap and torture since efforts to try them for murdering the Canadian teenager were bungled by the authorities.

He argued in Supreme Court yesterday that huge international media interest in the fact no-one has been convicted for the killing would make it “impossible” to find an unbiased jury if fresh charges were laid.

“Newspapers have spilled gallons of ink in pursuit of this story. As a result, the pulse of public opinion in this country already has my client convicted of murdering Rebecca,” he said.

He added later: “It’s my firm belief that the feeling’s so strong that any jury being asked to put that aside would be asked to perform mental gymnastics of Olympic proportions. They would not be able to put it aside.”

Cherie Booth QC is representing the Middleton family in the bid to have the case reopened. She has claimed it was right there has been an outcry over the “injustice” in the case, but a judge could direct a jury to ignore media coverage.

Rebecca, 17, was on vacation from her home in Belleville, Ontario, when she was stabbed raped and sodomized before being dumped on a remote road in Ferry Reach on July 3 1996. Mundy and Smith were arrested days later. Ms Booth has zeroed-in on how Mundy told Police he had consensual sex with the teenager — which she says was a lie — and implicated Smith in the murder.

Ms Booth said this never should have been accepted but an “inexperienced” prosecutor did so and allowed a plea bargain whereby Mundy pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crime in exchange for a pledge to testify against Smith. He got five years in jail.

Later attempts by prosecutors to charge Mundy with murder after fresh evidence came in allegedly linking him to the crime were blocked by the Privy Council. Smith’s murder trial was thrown out by a judge, with attempts to re-try him also blocked by the Privy Council.

During the course of a judicial review hearing this week, Ms Booth has argued that a decision by Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen not to re-open the case was wrong.

She told Chief Justice Richard Ground that Bermuda’s top prosecutor placed too much emphasis on the rights of the suspects in coming to the decision, and not enough on the rights of Rebecca and her family. She pointed out the ‘double jeopardy’ rule preventing a person being tried twice for a crime dates back to a time when a defendant could face the death penalty for offences such as rape and murder. Now this is no longer so, she said, there must be more emphasis on the human rights of the victim than in past centuries.

“Rebecca’s life has gone. Her parents know that only too well. There’s not the chance of the redemption Mr. Mundy has had by being allowed to take his exams in jail. There’s no second chance for Rebecca,” she said.

She pointed out that England and Wales have already abolished double jeopardy to allow repeat trials in special circumstances. “This is not an ordinary case. In fact this is a unique case...we say that those special circumstances are sufficient to amount in today’s world to justification for you to quash this decision (by the DPP),” she told the court.

She added that a sex assault trial would not breach the double jeopardy rule on repeat prosecutions anyhow, because the original charge against Smith and Mundy was murder but a new case would focus on alleged acts before Rebecca’s death.

Ms Booth argued that Mundy should not be allowed to “hide” behind the plea deal struck in 1996 as it only extended to him not facing a murder trial.

Mr. Richardson, however, said the agreement remained in place, and was a further reason new charges now would be wrong. He also stressed his position that the only crime Mundy is responsible for is the accessory charge he was jailed for.

James Guthrie, QC, representing Mrs. Graham-Allen, said on Monday that she was right to rule out new proceedings.

Mr. Justice Ground adjourned the matter after hearing all the arguments, and said it would take at least three weeks to make his ruling.

Rebecca’s parents, Cindy Bennett and her ex-husband Dave Middleton, attended the judicial review and are considering returning to the Island to hear the outcome. “I’m feeling very confident. I’m so glad I came to hear this,” said Mrs. Bennett. Mr. Middleton commented: “I thought we got the point across. It is a special case.”