Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo was yesterday publicly named as being at the centre of a plea bargaining fiasco that saw a suspect in the Rebecca Middleton case evade a murder charge, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

However, the details revealed about the Middleton case during yesterday's hearing may well be the last to come out of the probe into the handling of serious crimes on the Island after it became apparent at the morning session that a gag has been placed on specific incidents, meaning only the surface of individual cases can be skimmed.

At yesterday's hearing into the handling of serious crimes on the Island, the man who headed the investigation into the murder of the 17-year-old Canadian said both former Attorney General (AG) Elliott Mottley and Mr. Tokunbo were central to the decisions taken.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Victor Richmond said after both Kirk Mundy and Justis Smith were arrested in connection with the slaying of Rebecca, detectives held a meeting with top prosecutors.

There, he said, members of the AG's chambers, including Mr. Tokunbo, who was Senior Crown counsel at the time, wanted to offer Mundy a deal whereby he be offered a lesser sentence in return for information.

At that stage, Mundy had admitted to having consensual sex with a condom with Rebecca but denied he had anything to do with the killing, blaming instead his friend.

However, later detectives discovered evidence that suggested two people had been responsible for the death, but found they were unable to change the charge because of the immunity deal.

Mr. Richmond, who was detective superintendent at the time of Rebecca's death, also revealed how both Mundy and Smith were charged before any DNA test results had been returned.

And he admitted that their charges were largely based on the strength of Mundy's statement.

Asked by barrister Richard Hector why Mundy had been offered a deal of a lesser charge, Mr. Richmond referred back to the meeting with prosecutors, and said: "I think there were several factors that influenced this.

"There had just been a very successful prosecution, the prosecutor being Mr.

Tokunbo, of a violent murder in St. George's, where an elderly man was killed.'' He said the strategy used in that case was to offer a deal of a lesser charge to one of the suspects in return for information. As a result, both men were convicted.

He said the AG's chambers wanted to opt for that "ploy'' again on the Middleton case and so offered the deal to Mundy's lawyer.

Mr. Richmond said Police officers did not have the power to strike deals with suspects, but instead it was down to prosecutors or the Attorney General to discuss them with defendants and their lawyers.

Tokunbo at centre of Middleton fiasco He said, as a result of the meeting, agreements were reached on the charges.

"The charges were premeditated murder of Rebecca Middleton to Justis Smith, and with regard to Kirk Mundy, being an accessory after the fact,'' added Mr.

Richmond.

The senior officer said although nobody had ever been convicted of Rebecca's murder, in his mind, the two people responsible had been found.

He added: "I do not consider the Rebecca Middleton case to be an unsolved murder.

"We have identified without any shadow of doubt the two persons that were present when Becky Middleton met her unfortunate death.'' The first tests carried out by the Government analyst proved to have been done incorrectly.

The second set of results proved that Rebecca did not have semen in her mouth, vagina and anus, as at first thought, but instead only her vagina.

DNA tests later proved that the semen belonged to Mundy.

At the morning session, Mr. Richmond took to the stand and, when pushed, went into some detail about the investigation into Rebecca's death.

But during his evidence, the hearing was suddenly halted by chairman Justice Stanley Moore to enable the three commissioners in charge to consult with barrister Mr. Hector.

When the hearing was re-convened after lunch, the Middleton murder was not mentioned again.

Last night, Rick Meens, a close friend of Rebecca's family, whose daughter Jasmine was with the teenager the night she was killed, said he was bitterly disappointed that a gag had seemingly been placed over the issue.

He said it was obvious that questioning on the Middleton case was incomplete when the hearing was adjourned, yet it was not brought up again.

Mr. Meens, who lives in the Knapton Hill area, said: "I was hopeful this morning that we might find out what happened with this bungled case.

"But it is obvious from this afternoon's hearing that they are not going to go into any more detail because this inquiry was deliberately set up to avoid particular cases. The mandate does not allow for it.

"This was a perfect opportunity to ask Victor Richmond what happened during the investigation, but they stayed away from it.

"Everybody wants to know why the investigation was so messed up. This inquiry is very much watered down and Rebecca will be a small trickle in it.

"I will be writing to the Governor to tell him how I feel.

"Now we will just have to see what Mr. Tokunbo has to say when he gives his testimony to the hearing next week.'' Rebecca was raped, tortured and butchered to death in Ferry Reach in July 1996 while staying on holiday with Mr. Meens and his daughter.

Evidence proved that it was likely that at least two people had been responsible for her death.

The pathologist studying her murder said it was most probable that somebody had held Rebecca down while many of the torture wounds were inflicted.

However, nobody has ever been convicted of her slaying. Justis Smith was charged but acquitted of her murder, Mundy was sentenced to five years for his part.

Khamisi Tokunbo Rebecca Middleton