The Chief Justice yesterday adjourned an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions after notes made by a Magistrate were missing from the record of the case.

The DPP appealed to the Supreme Court after Magistrate Will Francis dismissed an application to forfeit a car which was allegedly used in the commission of drug offences.

When the DPP appealed, the record of the hearing and ruling made by Mr. Francis were not included in the record.

Chief Justice Richard Ground said: ?I will adjourn it until a date can be fixed by the Registrar.?

The appeal was filed after Shawn Troy Chaney Boyles was convicted in August, 2003 of seven drug offences.

On two occasions Boyles, 30, of Southampton, was caught using a Volkswagen Polo to transport himself and drugs, according to the Crown.

Senior Crown counsel Lloyd Rayney said: ?The DPP made an application for the car to be forfeited and then there was a hearing in front of a Magistrate ? who then made a ruling which denied the forfeiture of the car.?

He said of the appeal: ?This is the first time the Supreme Court will hear the DPP appeal under Section 37 of the Misuse of Drugs Act ? which states property can be forfeited if used in connection with an offence.?

Defence lawyer Larry Scott appeared for Boyles.