The family of murdered teenager Becky Middleton have abandoned efforts to get the case reopened as they can no longer foot the enormous legal bills involved.

They made a failed bid last year to get Chief Justice Richard Ground to consider fresh charges against suspects Kirk Mundy and Justis Smith.

Speaking in the aftermath of that, Becky's father Dave Middleton pledged to fight on in the Court of Appeal and potentially even the European Court of Justice.

However, he told The Royal Gazette yesterday that his legal bill already amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it would cost at least $300,000 to go to the Court of Appeal.

This, he acknowledged, is "out of reach" despite fundraising in Becky's name as a result of publicity in Bermuda, Canada, and around the world.

"When you look at it, the changes are slim that we can convince the DPP's department that this should be looked at again.

"The basic idea is that with them, murder in the street is OK. What can you say? They don't seem to think there was a problem with the way it was handled," he said.

"Nothing's going to bring Becky back to us, but the thing is that what has happened to us has happened to other people before us and will happen to other people after us.

"If you don't stand up and say something, you've failed. We thought the Government of Bermuda was willing and able to listen to us, but they won't and it's taken us a long struggle to get to that point."

Becky, 17, from Ontario, was raped and stabbed to death while on vacation in Bermuda in 1996. No-one has ever been convicted for the killing.

Last year, leading British human rights lawyer Cherie Booth QC represented Mr. Middleton in arguing before Mr. Justice Ground that Mundy and Smith should be charged with sexual assault, abduction, and torture since earlier attempts to try them for murder were bungled.

Rejecting this, the Chief Justice stated that he could not interfere with a previous decision by the then Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Vinette Graham-Allen not to re-open the case. He said of Mr. Middleton: "The applicant has suffered a terrible loss, for which he can never be compensated. He has also suffered a wrong, in the way that this matter was mishandled at the outset."

Speaking from his home in Belleville, Ontario last night, Mr. Middleton said he preferred not to view the decision not to pursue further action as a defeat.

"Although we didn't get to where we wanted, a lot of good things have been accomplished. We made people aware," he said. "People you deal with — the Middleton Foundation and friends — feel really bad because they feel we failed. I don't know we failed. We didn't get where we wanted to go but what's really failed here is the Government of Bermuda. They've failed the people and not allowed it to come to an end that would help the people of Bermuda."

However, he expressed hope the case will eventually lead to criminal justice reforms — including following the lead of England and Wales and abolishing the 'double jeopardy rule' which bars someone being tried twice for the same crime. Double jeopardy prevented the Middleton family being able to ask for Smith and Mundy to be re-charged with murder. However, a law change in future could allow other "cold" cases to be re-opened in the face of new and compelling evidence such as DNA or the discovery of a murder weapon.

In addition, Mr. Middleton hopes Police officers will benefit in future from further specialist training to deal with serious cases such as those involving rape and murder.

Meanwhile his Bermuda-based lawyer Kelvin Hastings-Smith said: "It is certainly with a heavy heart and great sadness that the decision has been taken to withdraw the appeal to the Chief Justice's decision. Although the legal team remained confident of a successful outcome, the financial costs were a major consideration in pursuing the case any further.

"Becky will never be forgotten, her family have endured more than can be imagined in this tragedy and will now try and put this behind them and build their shattered lives as best they can. If lessons can be learned in the investigation and prosecution of similar cases for the future, then the efforts of the family will have had a lasting impact."