Police bungling of a sting operation led to a drugs trial being thrown out of court yesterday.

The accused, Andrew James Smith, 37, of Vaucrosson's Crescent, Pembroke, hugged a handful of relatives before walking out of the courtroom a free man after the four-day trial.

Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons asked the jury to leave the courtroom at the request of counsel Richard Hector, representing Mr. Smith, who then proceeded to submit that there was no case to answer.

Smith was arrested and charged with importing cannabis with a street value of over $360,000 and possession of the drugs with intent to supply in July last year.

He denied the charges.

The alleged offences took place while he was employed in the maintenance department of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The court had heard that a large crate addressed to the hospital's library was brought to the Island by commercial airliner July 17. The crate, which was accompanied by documentation stating it contained office supplies, was properly cleared through the airport and delivered to the hospital two days later.

No one at the hospital authorised to order materials had actually ordered the shipment, according to the Crown.

When opened by hospital staff the crate was found to contain computer paper, pencils sharpeners and a false bottom which held four packages wrapped in carbon paper containing cannabis.

Police mounted a sting operation, removing the crate and replacing the drugs with dummy packages - some of which contained a loaf of bread and one which contained a control sample of the drug - before returning it to the hospital's shipping and receiving room.

Smith had allegedly gone to the home of the hospital's materials handling manager-designate offering to pay money for the package. She contacted the Police and assisted them in mounting the sting.

Police arrested Smith seconds after he had opened the crate, but in court offered no evidence that he actually held the package containing the control sample in his hands. Defence lawyer Richard Hector was able to show in cross examination that officers had inconsistent accounts regarding the dummy packages and the control samples.

During yesterday's session, Mr. Hector honed in on Police testimony that they had repackaged the crate to look as it had been when first discovered - with all the dummy packages concealed underneath a false bottom which was sealed. But officers also testified that Smith had a dummy package in his hands about one minute after he had opened the crate.

"I am going to suggest to you that you never saw him take any dummy packages out, it's all in your imagination," Mr. Hector told Acting Inspector Othneal Haynes, lead investigator of the case.

The detective stood by his testimony.

After hearing Mr. Hector's legal submissions Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons found there was no case to answer and directed the jury to return a not-guilty verdict.

"As a result of two cases that were decided by the court of appeal very recently there has been a refinement of the law," Assistant Justice Simmons explained to the jury. "If we were deciding this case as the law was then... there may have been a different result."

She commended Crown counsel, Anthony Blackman, for his "impeccable" conduct of the case.

While Mr. Smith refused to comment after the verdict, Mr. Hector was unimpressed that the Director of Public Prosecutions decided to go ahead with the case.

"When this case started last week, the Crown knew what the law is and they knew what the outcome of the case would be having read the evidence," Mr. Hector said.

"What they have done is to allow this case to go ahead and put my client to great expense - which could have been prevented."

Asked why the case was brought, given new case law, Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo said that the decisions of the court of Appeal had been made in November and the case was brought to the Supreme Court before then.

"Under the circumstances we thought it was appropriate to leave it to the Supreme Court to make a decision," Mr. Tokunbo said. "We haven't done anything outside the law as we knew it."