Bermuda, spent her last night alive after drinking in St. George's on July 2, 1996.

At 3.30 a.m. the following morning, her barely-recognisable body was found in the middle of a road in Ferry Reach. She had been tortured, raped and stabbed to death.

The gruesome discovery led to almost four years of heartbreaking twists and turns for the Middleton family as they struggled for justice.

Yesterday's decision by the Privy Council in London that Justis Smith cannot be retried for the murder, appears to be the end of the road for her parents David and Cindy Middleton.

Ten days after Miss Middleton's body was found, Mr. Smith, who was 17 at the time, and Kirk Orlando Mundy were arrested.

The Crown argued that Miss Middleton accepted a lift on a motorbike from Mr.

Smith and Mundy.

In October 1996, Mundy pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was jailed for five years, but a dramatic new development occurred in January 1998 when the Crown tried to have him tried for murder because it had forensic evidence that more than one person carried the body.

The Crown later discovered through DNA evidence that Mundy had been at the scene of the crime, but because he had pleaded guilty, he succeeded in having the attempt to charge him with murder dismissed.

On November 23, Mr. Smith's murder trial began where the Crown asserted two people had been involved in the killing.

The Privy Council, in its report yesterday noted: "Mundy's semen was found in the victim.

"The circumstantial evidence that Mundy was involved in the murder was strong. The Crown's case against the appellant (Smith) was equally based on strong circumstantial evidence.'' The Crown decided not to call Mundy as a witness because, due to his earlier plea, he had no credibility.

Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux caused an outcry when he ruled there was "inconclusive evidence to link the defendant with the commission of the crime''.

He agreed with defence lawyers that there had been an abuse of process and concluded there was no case to answer.

His decision to set Mr. Smith free caused outrage among Miss Middleton's family in Belleville, Ontario, and led to a boycott of Bermuda in Canada.

The five Privy Councillors said yesterday it was "surprising'' that the judge found the circumstantial evidence against Mr. Smith inconclusive.

The Crown went to the Court of Appeal, which ordered a re-trial. The Court concluded the judge should have left the case because the jury "could properly have come to the conclusion that the respondent (Mr. Smith) was at the scene of the murder of Rebecca, and participated in it as the principal killer''.

The Privy Councillors agreed with the Appeal Court that there had been no abuse of process but concluded the Crown could only appeal on matters of law, not "mixed law and fact''.

They added that although Mr. Justice Meerabux's decision that the circumstantial evidence was not strong enough "was perhaps an astonishing one,'' the Crown had no right to appeal on mixed questions of fact and law.

In upholding the judge's decision to acquit Mr. Smith, they concluded: "It is a settled principle of English law that an acquittal recorded by a court of competent jurisdiction, although erroneous in point of fact, cannot generally be questioned before any other court. An acquittal is final.'' Justis Smith