struck back hard yesterday at "disturbing and unfortunate'' allegations he was friendly with one-time murder accused Justis Smith's father.

And Mr. Tokunbo said there was a campaign led by Rebecca Middleton's host, Rick Meens, to thwart his chances at becoming the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He alleged Mr. Meens showed the front page of the December 16, 1998 Royal Gazette -- purporting to show Mr. Tokunbo's son celebrating the verdict -- to anyone who would listen, asking "is this the man you want'' as top prosecutor.

Mr. Tokunbo said Mr. Meens also went to Government House and asked Governor Thorold Masefield or the Deputy Governor, Tim Gurney the same question during the DPP selection process.

And Mr. Tokunbo hinted that he wrestles with embarrassing behaviour from his own child, but slammed the door shut on the rumour that his son knows Justis Smith and Kirk Mundy.

Mr. Smith was cleared of Ms Middleton's pre-meditated murder while Mundy was convicted of being the accessory to her murder.

The lack of successful convictions for her murder was the primary motivation behind the Serious Crimes Commission.

Turning directly to the issue, Mr. Tokunbo said: "Let me make it abundantly clear -- this is the attempt to set the record straight.

"I do not know Justis Smith, Justis Smith's father, or any of Justis Smith's family. I did not know them then and I still don't know them now. I was not in court hugging, courting or comforting them.

"I'm not attributing that to Mr. Middleton, but there are people that have used this case to divide the community,'' he added.

The rumours about his involvement in the case, especially the extracurricular activities he said lie with Mr. Meens, Mr. Tokunbo explained.

He described Mr. Meens -- who has admitted he feels responsible for Rebecca's death because it happened under his care -- as "running around Bermuda'' showing the clipping of The Royal Gazette .

Mr. Meens was "telling people, `that's Khamisi Tokunbo's son', who stood among a group of young men outside the court celebrating Mr. Smith's acquittal.

Last night, in a broadcast news report, Mr. Meens denied trying to sabotage Mr. Tokunbo's candidacy, saying he was only attempting to find out if one of the young men was the junior Tokunbo. He later found out it was not.

Commission coverage Tokunbo answers his critics Mr. Tokunbo said there was "much more that I can say and I don't need to share my personal problems'' but "the irony of it all is that it is not my son''.

"My son doesn't know about this,'' he continued. "I approached my son and asked him `do you know Kirk Mundy, do you know Justis Smith?'. My son never knew either of them, and most importantly my son is not on the front page.'' Mr. Tokunbo disclosed that in days following the verdict, he also received telephone calls and faxes from Royal Gazette reporters inquiring into the allegations about his son.

"They weren't bold enough to go ahead and print it,'' he said. "I have a 24-year-old and what he does is his business.

"They asked me a series of questions about the appropriateness at the time,'' he continued, "all of which was unsubstantiated and untrue.'' About Mr. Middleton's charge of him as being friendly with the Smiths, Mr.

Tokunbo said: "I find that particular testimony, insofar as that it was me, to be both disturbing and unfortunate.

"Firstly, it is a serious allegation to the extent that it is correct.

Secondly, it is incorrect and he (Mr. Middleton) is mistaken,'' he continued.

"Thirdly, I too think it would be improper for a prosecuting officer or counsel to be seen to be doing that. It would be a display of insensitivity on the part of prosecuting counsel.'' He added: "And certainly it is one of the principles by which I conduct myself that would not permit me to do such a thing. I share that with him -- the insensitivity it would display.'' Mr. Tokunbo said he had heard something similar shortly after the trial from then-Solicitor General Bill Pearce and denied that he ever gave Mr. Smith the "thumbs up'' outside the court.

He explained Mr. Pearce approached him on December 17, 1998, two days after Justis Smith was acquitted, and said that either of Ms Middleton's parents or both of them had seen him giving the thumbs up to Mr. Smith.

He said he had thought the message would have been passed on to the Middleton family -- before turning the tables on Mr. Pearce and suggesting he had been unprofessional in talking to the Middletons.

"I dealt with it at that time and I thought it would have been communicated to him at that time, I give benefit of doubt,'' he added.

"It is consistent with other information that has been arising out of this case and one has to question the motives and the source for it. Because they appear to be deliberate and malicious and serving some people's self interests.

"(Mr. Pearce) thought he was doing the gentlemanly thing and doing me a favour in coming to me,'' Mr. Tokunbo explained. "I can tell you in no uncertain terms that I set Mr. Pearce straight.

"I told Mr. Pearce that I consider it be improper and inappropriate for the prosecuting counsel to be courting or socialising both with the family of the victim or the family of the defendant in any case -- let alone that case.'' He added: "And that I had done neither, and the fact that I was, in fact, disturbed by his own behaviour in the case, and that he had been courting and socialising the family of the victim and that was improper and unprofessional.'' Prosecutor Tokunbo added: "I failed to see the difference between prosecutor socialising and courting defendant family and courting and socialising with the victim's family. And he was courting and socialising with the victim's family.'' Mr. Tokunbo went further in challenging notions about the Middleton case, adding an answer to a question from Commission member Shirley Simmons from last week that race plays a role in public perception in the case.

He said: "I will now tell you that the Middleton case is probably the worst case example how this community has been polarised along racial lines.

"People have played the race card in this game,'' he said, adding how certain people have been "overzealous and have lost their objectivity''.

Mr. Tokunbo also likened it to the prosecution of the Harrington Sound arson case in which "three white boys'' pleaded guilty to lesser charges of setting fire to paper.

He said he had "strong suspicions'' about that case but did not go further.

Saying he is also a father, he found Ms Middleton's murder to be a "tragic and brutal killing'' and he sympathises with the Middleton family.

"So I would not have courted the Smith family,'' he added. Such a move would have been "unprofessional'' and would have shown a loss of objectivity.

"Unfortunately like everything in the country, race became involved,'' Mr.

Tokunbo added.

When Mr. Hector asked if there is anything further, Mr. Tokunbo concluded: "No, I just wanted to help to set the record straight and hope the Commission takes it for what it is.'' No caption