The Cooper twins murder trial will go ahead in the New Year, a judge ruled yesterday.

Chief Justice Richard Ground ended any prospect of the high-profile case getting postponed until November because of delays to legal aid payments.

Kenneth Jermaine Burgess, 33, and Dennis Alma Robinson, 34, will now stand trial as planned on January 4. The trial is expected to last a month.

The defendants deny double murder on March 13.

Mr. Justice Ground said the defence had received enough time to sort out legal aid payments and arrange for expert evidence to be drawn up.

Rejecting a request from Robinson?s defence team for a postponement until February, Mr. Justice Ground said murder trials had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

The court had heard if the case was switched from January 4, Burgess? defence team would not be available until next November.

And the Chief Justice said that such an 11-month wait was unacceptable and warned that witnesses? memories could fade. He also said the case had been set down for the January trial date since August 1, so defence teams had enough time to prepare. All legal aid problems had now been sorted out, he added, and experts could be paid.

Both defendants are due to be represented by leading UK barristers, with Courtney Griffiths QC lined up for Burgess and John Perry QC for Robinson.

Charles Richardson, for Robinson, said Mr. Perry might not have a plane ticket booked and there could be a problem getting him to Bermuda in time for the trial.

But Mr. Justice Ground told Mr. Richardson he had never adjourned the trial. Any delay caused because of travel bookings, he added, would be taken very seriously by the court.

The Chief Justice said the trial could not slip outside the four-week timeframe due to lawyers having other commitments outside Bermuda. And the Judge said he would be happy to sit longer hours, and if necessary work weekends, during the trial if it meant the one month deadline would be hit.

At an earlier hearing, Mr. Richardson had said forensic experts lined up by the defence would not start working until fees were confirmed.

Their responses would not be available until at least the end of next month, he said, making the defence case incomplete if the trial started as planned on January 4.

Yesterday Mr. Richardson told the court his client would rather sit in jail until November and be fully prepared, rather than be unprepared and risk two life sentences. Michael Smith, for Burgess, told the Supreme Court his team were ready for the planned start date.

Burgess, of Cottage Hill Road, Hamilton, and Robinson, of Palm Valley, Southampton, both remain in custody after yesterday?s hearing.

The Cooper twins went missing in March and this led to a Police hunt that lasted several weeks. Police recovered the brothers? decaying bodies from a Hamilton Parish cliff on April 14.