The murder trial of Stanford Glenfield Archibald was aborted yesterday because the Supreme Court had insufficient jurors to hold the case.

Stanford Glenfield Archibald, 38, is accused of the 1985 murder of 19-year-old Aaron Glen Easton who was found lying in a pool of blood on Laffan Street.

Archibald, formerly of Sandys Parish, had been living in Scotland with his wife and two children for several years and was arrested when he returned home for a vacation last year.

His family travelled to be with him for the trial but only found out it would be aborted after arriving.

Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill said: "His wife and two young daughters who live in Scotland came to support him. They probably won't be able to afford to come next time. It is extremely unfortunate.

"The DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo) and I are for once on the same page. A lot of time and effort has been put into this case. We both have overseas witnesses," Mr. Pettingill added. "Anything of this magnitude you get geared up for and it's very difficult to stand down from that type of case at the eleventh hour, even more so for the man facing trial.

"I don't know why there was no jury. I understand the jury pool should have been at a certain level but was not sufficient but I don't know the reasons for that."

He said Archibald had been on remand for 14 months during which time his father and brother had died.

He said DPP Khamisi Tokunbo had indicated a busy court schedule meant the trial might not start until June.

Mr. Pettingill said: "We will be making a bail application in these circumstances as soon as possible."