A man alleged to have smuggled $1.8 million of heroin into Bermuda walked free yesterday after a judge ruled the Crown could not prosecute him because he had been in custody so long that his rights had been violated.

Now the taxpayer faces a compensation bill which could top $1 million after the case against Andrew Hall ? who was held in custody for almost three years without trial ? was dismissed yesterday by Assistant Justice Archibald Warner.

If found guilty at trial, Mr. Hall, 39, a Jamaican with US citizenship, would have faced a jail sentence of between 14 and 18 years ? the terms handed out to his two co-accused who pleaded guilty.

Yesterday, Mr. Hall?s lawyer Mark Diel described Mr. Justice Warner?s ruling as a ?wake-up call? to the criminal justice system and said reforms were needed to ensure no other prisoner was held for so long without trial.

And he confirmed his client, who was arrested on March 25, 2001 on charges of importing $1.8 million of heroin, would be seeking ?substantial? compensation for being held unlawfully.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said he ?totally disagreed? with the ruling but admitted he did not know if he could appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal.

?I totally disagree with the order made and it is arguable about whether I have the right to appeal,? he told yesterday.

?It is not clear whether we have the right to appeal and I am going to let the Court of Appeal see if there is a right to appeal.

?The man has been let loose and I can?t do anything. I am helpless because the judge has quashed the indictment.

?His role, on the evidence, was no different from the two other accused who were convicted, so if convicted he would be spending 18 years in jail in Bermuda.?

Any attempts to bring Mr. Hall back before the courts seem unlikely to succeed as Mr. Diel said yesterday Mr. Hall intends to return to his family in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as early as today.

At a hearing last month, Assistant Justice Philip Storr ruled that Mr. Hall?s rights to a timely trial had been abused because he had been held in custody for so long.

But he said public opinion in Bermuda would be ?outraged? if Mr. Hall did not stand trial, particularly because of the seriousness of the case and the lengthy sentences handed out to his two Jamaican co-accused.

Barris Dawkins, also known as Rudolph Everton Pusey, was jailed for 18 years for importing the drugs and Teartia Smith, was locked up for 14 years for the same offence.

Mr. Justice Warner freed Mr. Hall yesterday saying Bermuda had to follow the Privy Council, which had ruled that if a person?s rights had been abused, they could not be prosecuted.

After the ruling, Mr. Diel said: ?I think we are going to see, and we already are seeing, a wake-up call to the entire judicial system, and I include the defence bar as well.

?I am not pointing any fingers, but when you have someone incarcerated on remand in a cell for 23 hours a day for almost three years without trial, there is something fundamentally wrong with the system.

?I expect, and I am sure we are going to see, changes to ensure this doesn?t happen again.?

Mr. Hall, originally from Ochos Rios, Jamaica but who has family in Fort Lauderdale, was hoping to return to Florida to see his wife as early as today.

After walking free yesterday, Mr. Hall said: ?My feelings are that there is still hope, and I am grateful for Mr. Diel and Marshall, Diel and Myers in more ways than you can imagine.

?I know that there are still people who care. This has renewed my feelings in my lawyer?s ability.?

When asked if he had imported the drugs to Bermuda, Mr. Hall told reporters: ?No.?

Mr. Diel added: ?We are now going to have to seek to have the court determine the amount of damages my client suffered as a result of a breach of his fundamental human rights.

?He has been in custody wrongly for almost three years. I know of no case in this jurisdiction, and I don?t believe there is a case in the UK of people wrongfully imprisoned for this time.?

When asked how much his client would be seeking, Mr. Diel would only say ?substantial damages,? but it is understood the amount sought will be at least six figures and could top $1 million.

Mr. Diel said the case has demonstrated flaws throughout the judicial system in Bermuda.

He said none of the delays had been caused by his client, who hadn?t sought a single adjournment.

?I don?t think the issue was of the DPP dropping the ball,? he said. ?There was probably enough blame to go around with the exception of my client.?