Bermuda?s Solicitor General Wilhelm Bourne is to become Anguilla?s Attorney General. He will replace Ronald Scipio QC, who has held the post for nine years, in early December.

According to a Caribbean News Net report, Mr. Bourne was unanimously chosen by a selection panel over a number of well-qualified candidates, from Anguilla and from overseas.

Mr. Bourne told : ?I am delighted. It?s quite an honour that?s been given to me and I am very eager to take up the post.?

Mr. Bourne, 60, was born in Barbados but left a job in the Department of Statistics in 1968 to come to Bermuda as a Police officer where he reached the rank of sergeant. Despite acting in higher ranks and having great promotion prospects he said he opted to join the legal profession and went off to study in England in 1984.

?It was my exposure to the law in the Police which created my interest. It gripped me to the point where I really wanted to go and do it,? he said.

Since returning to Bermuda, where he now has status, he has done a variety of legal jobs including serving in private practice and representing the Crown in both criminal and civil cases.

Asked for highlights, he said there were too many to choose from.

?I have been involved in the cutting edge of legal business for the past five years. ?I have had much involvement with the Government and Governor,? said Mr. Bourne. He expects to serve at least two years as Anguilla?s Attorney General and he confessed he has only been to the eastern Caribbean island on three occasions, for brief visits. Mr. Bourne was appointed as Bermuda?s Solicitor General in July 2001 where he represented and advised the Crown in major civil and commercial cases. Premier Alex Scott said it was an excellent opportunity for Mr. Bourne, while Anguilla was getting a man with great experience.

?There have been quite a few difficult cases he has assisted Bermuda with and seen us through,? said Mr. Scott.

However, Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz was less complimentary.

He said: ?He did a very poor job in the GoldenEye case that obviously upset the apple cart.?

Government was forced to hire an overseas QC to try to salvage the case ? but all too late, said Mr. Moniz.

In that case the owners of luxury Tucker?s Town mansion GoldenEye went to court and overturned Government?s new regulation banning Bermudians selling homes to foreigners. After a lengthy legal battle, Alan and Vera Rosa Marshall emerged victorious when Government agreed to consider an application by a non-Bermudian to buy the house although Government argued the policy was still in place and the Marshalls had merely won an exemption.

Mr. Bourne said the GoldenEye issue had been very important as it was about the issue of legitimate expectations.

?It was important to have an authority who deals with that area on a day-to-day basis ? an expert.?

Mr. Moniz said Bermuda may well have to look overseas for Mr. Bourne?s replacement ? a post being advertised with salary of more than $155,000 ? as the job requires someone with a high degree of experience. All too often Government is lashing out money on consultants to do jobs it does not trust civil servants to do, said Mr. Moniz. ?The PLP are committed to Bermudianisation but quite often people are not up to the job.?