A fresh legal bid to reopen the case into the unsolved murder of Canadian teenager Rebecca Middleton has been made to Chief Justice Richard Ground.

By the end of this week the Island's top judge is expected to decide whether to allow a new legal route to re-examine evidence, old and new, that relates to the savage July 1996 killing.

And David Middleton, the father of 17-year-old Becky, hopes Dr. Ewart Brown's new Government and its stated intention to assess the Island's judicial system will help bring justice, possibly through adopting UK law changes allowing acquitted suspects to face a second trial for serious offences such as rape and murder where there is "fresh and "compelling" new evidence.

Six years ago Mr. Middleton met lawyer Phillip Perinchief on the street and spoke about the case.

He hopes the newly appointed Attorney General may bring to Cabinet a request for the double jeopardy rule to also be altered.

No-one has ever been convicted of Becky's murder at Ferry Reach, St. George's.

However Kirk Mundy was convicted for being an accessory after the fact to murder in 1996.

Another man Justis Smith was acquitted in 1998 on the order of a judge who ruled there was no case to answer.

Now, even without a change in Bermuda's double jeopardy rule, new criminal proceedings might be activated against the two men if the latest legal move succeeds.

Should Mr. Justice Ground give leave for a judicial review of the Department of Public Prosecutions' decision last March ? in which DPP director Vinette Graham Allen said neither Mr. Smith nor Mundy could be retried on sexual assault charges relating to the murder ? it could lead to another trial with fresh charges. Mr. Middleton and lawyers met with Mr. Justice Ground on Tuesday and are now awaiting his decision, which they expect will be made by Friday.

Kelvin Hastings-Smith, a counsel with Appleby Hunter Bailhache, said: "Any action the DPP might take will not be in relation to any charges that have already been put against any individuals who may have been involved in Rebecca's death."

He said the aim of the new legal move was to get Ms Graham Allen and the DPP to open the case and look afresh at the evidence, something the DPP director rejected in March.

"We say she has not done any of the groundwork in looking at the evidence and testing the evidence to reach a decision.

"Our view is that if she did that her decision would be different to that which she issued on March 30," said Mr. Hastings-Smith.

A green light to proceed from the Chief Justice will force a judicial review in open court to hear arguments from Mr Middleton and the DPP director before making a rule on whether the DPP's decision was correct or to order the DPP to revisit its decision.

"The important thing for the Middleton family is that we are embarking on another procedure. No-one has forgotten about Becky and I would like to think we are ploughing a new furrow and we are getting somewhere at long last," explained Mr. Hastings-Smith.

"It is not the last route. If we are unsuccessful, we can possibly apply to this court of the Court of Appeal or look at other avenues."

Mr. Middleton said: "I feel there is an opportunity for us to make something that was terribly wrong a little bit more correct.

"At the end of the day we would like to see that this does not happen to others, because then at least Becky would not have died in vain with nothing being done.

"There is a new Premier and one of the things that appears to be high on his list is making life harder for people involved in criminal activities and straightening up the justice system, so we say 'Hey, look at this. Try this'."

And speaking of his chance meeting with Mr. Perinchief six years ago when the new Attorney General was involved in private law practice, he said: "I liked what I heard him say and I liked his attitude. I haven't talked to him for some time but hopefully he continues on with the same path that he told me before."

And he has been heartened by the continuing support of Bermudians to see something done about the unsolved murder.

"People here say don't give up, keep perusing it. A lot of people mention they are embarrassed about what happened and wish the case could be opened back up again. And a lot of people can't understand why there hasn't been an attempt to look into it again," he said.

And back in Canada the question he hears from people is simply: "Has Bermuda done anything yet?"