A man extradited from Jamaica to face firearms charges - after a 22-month Police hunt for him - walked free from Magistrates' Court yesterday after a magistrate ruled he had no case to answer.

Kenith Clifton Bulford, 29, was accused of possessing an unlicensed nine-millimetre AP9 pistol as well as 20 rounds of 9-mm ammunition and five 3.75 Magnum bullets some time between March 1 and April 27, 2003.

Mr. Bulford had skipped the Island in July, 2003 after being interviewed by Police in connection with the 2003 murder of college student Shaundae Jones at Dockyard's Club Malabar.

He was eventually found in Jamaica earlier this year, where he was arrested by Police in a raid on a house in Kingston.

Mr. Bulford was returned to Bermuda to face the firearms charges on March 26, escorted by members of the Jamaican police on a private jet.

On March 28, he was charged in Magistrates' Court with the weapons offences.

But in a long form preliminary inquiry held before Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner yesterday, at which the Crown presented its evidence, Mr. Warner ruled that the evidence was not strong enough to constitute a prima facie case against Mr. Bulford.

Meanwhile, VSB News were reporting last night that a key Crown witness, whose evidence was reportedly central to the case, decided at the last minute not to allow their evidence to be used in court - a fatal blow to the Crown.

Mr. Bulford's lawyer Richard Hector yesterday insisted, however, that the case against his client was generally very weak and the Crown had had little hope of meeting “the burden of proof”.

“I'm grateful to the Senior Magistrate for reaching the correct decision,” Mr. Hector told VSB News.

“When you make allegations against somebody, you have to be able to prove it, and this was something the Crown were clearly not able to do in this case.”

No one has ever been charged in relation to the murder of Mr. Jones who was killed with a single gunshot blast to the chest outside the West End club.