yesterday after a court heard how she was subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

In a ground-breaking case, Veronica Leslene Dill, of Farmstead Lane, Somerset, was cleared of attempted murder and arson, and grievous bodily harm with intent to burn.

After the verdict Ms Toni Daniels, chairperson of the Women's Resource Centre said: "I am fairly certain this will be a precedent setting case.

"This case illustrates that people in Bermuda are starting to better understand domestic violence.'' She said domestic violence was very prevalent in Bermuda -- but there were problems in detecting it.

"People are generally not aware of the indications of the Battered Woman Syndrome,'' she said.

Ms Daniels added the centre was concerned about the graphic nature of the trial.

"We have also received calls from members of the public which further expressed those same concerns. I am afraid that some victims of sexual abuse may hesitate to come forward because of the fear of what may come to light.'' Dill set Graham Robert Stancliffe, and his bed on fire with gasoline in October, 1993. Stancliffe received second degree burns to his legs.

While she admitted committing the act, Dill said in her defence: "I never meant to kill him. I just meant to scare him.'' Dill claimed Stancliffe sexually abused her by inserting his fist and a cone-shaped candle into her vagina without permission on several occasions.

She also said he beat, punched and kicked her and called her a "dirty black bitch''. She said he burned her legs as well with a cigarette twice.

Stancliffe said Dill gave her consent to these acts. He did admit he had occasionally hit, slapped and burned Dill with a cigarette but said "at the time I did not consider it abuse''.

A psychiatrist, Dr. Anne Guthrie, earlier told the court that Dill had been suffering from "Battered Woman's Syndrome (BWS)'' because of the abuse inflicted by Stancliffe.

"She fits BWS because she was madly in love with him and pumped him up to be something he wasn't, while he was lowering her own self-esteem.'' Dr. Guthrie said Dill had moved into the "disassociative'' state of mind at the time of the fire, making it difficult for her to think rationally.

"Disassociation'' occurred most often in trauma victims and was basically the separation of the emotional and logical self, he explained.

Although Dill tried on a number of occasions to leave Stancliffe, she claimed she felt "emotionally chained to him''.

The court heard that in June, 1993, Dill attempted to leave Stancliffe but became so depressed she attempted suicide by overdosing on Advil and Tylenol.

After she was released from the hospital Dill agreed to go back to Stancliffe on the condition that he saw a counsellor with her which he did only once.

Dr. Guthrie said this was common and likened the power of the abuser to that of a cult leader.

She said many victims blamed themselves, thinking that if it was their fault maybe they could stay and fix the situation.

Ms Charlene Scott, for the Crown, accused Dill of "in some way liking the confusion of her situation'' as she had many opportunities to leave Stancliffe and was not tied to him through money or children.

Afterwards, Crown Counsel Mr. Peter DeJulio, Ms Scott's colleague, said it was too early to tell if there would be an appeal.

Defence attorneys Mr. Delroy Duncan and Mr. Juan Wolffe said they were very happy with the verdict.