A judge yesterday attacked the Police over their handling of a drugs inquiry when she threw out a case against a Canadian woman accused of conspiring to import $150,000 of cocaine.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said officers contradicted each other, and sometimes their own testimony, when giving evidence against Paula Madill.

And Ms Madill's lawyer, Mark Pettingill, warned Police not to overstep the rules when interviewing suspects at crime scenes.

He said it was unacceptable that Ms Madill was questioned for three hours at the Mazarine by the Sea guest house in Pembroke on June 28 last year before she was taken to a Police station, read her prisoner's rights and given access to a lawyer.

While Police said they were carrying out a search of the guest house, officers admitted that they questioned Ms Madill and fellow Canadian Wayne William Maximchuk for one hour and 16 minutes before they carried out the physical search of the room.

During the trial, officers admitted that the interview notes gave the misleading impression Ms Madill, of Calgary, Alberta, was present for the entire period when she was absent for some time. The notes made no mention of her ever leaving the room.

Maximchuk, 44, also of Calgary, was imprisoned for seven and a half years last month when he pleaded guilty to possession of the cocaine, which he swallowed in 78 capsules.

Ms Madill pleaded not guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply and conspiracy to import the drug.

Ms Madill, who has a seven-year-old daughter in Canada, broke down in tears when the case was dismissed.

She refused to comment as she left Supreme Court, but Mr. Pettingill said his client is expected to fly back to Canada today after spending seven months in custody.

Mrs. Justice Simmons said the Crown had provided no evidence that Madill knew anything about the drugs, so it had not established she had possession.

She said Police testimony on the conspiracy charge was "tenuous and vague''.

Their evidence was unsafe because the officers contradicted each other, and sometimes themselves.

Afterwards, Mr. Pettingill said: "It is inappropriate and unfair to conduct questions and answers at the scene of the crime over an extensive period of time, and three hours is an extensive period of time.

"They really are tearing the backside out of it to take it that far.'' "Once the evidence is found, people should be arrested and taken to a Police station, given their rights, told they can call an attorney, and then conduct the interview.

"One hour and 16 minutes before the physical search, it is admitted, they interviewed them, which is an extensive period of time.

"The envelope was really pushed out on this one. This was highlighted on a number of occasions and the judge even stated that the officers even contradicted themselves at times.

"This was a classic instance when a case should have been thrown out and it was.'' Mr. Pettingill said the judge's rules on interviewing of suspects allow them to be "taxed'' for information at the crime scene, but the proper place for an interview was in a Police station.

He added: "Police have to be cautious of the procedures when it comes to the rules of the rule. The rules are in common law, but it would be nice to have them statutory.'' The trial heard that when Police raided the guest house on June 28 last year, Ms Madill was sunbathing outside while Maximchuk was sitting on a bed.

Both initially denied knowledge of drugs, but Maximchuk then produced a pellet of cocaine by a bag, followed by a pot from under a bed which contained 27 other pellets.

He also admitted having swallowed a further 50 capsules which he had not yet excreted.

Maximchuk, described as a professional courier who admitted to importing drugs to Bermuda previously, told Police that Ms Madill knew he had swallowed the drugs.

He said she was to be paid at least $1,000 and was there to make them look good as they came off the plane.