IN a society without a racial divide (and the consequent dual interpretation of current events), reaction to the recent expos? carried in concerning the tragic circumstances surrounding the murder of Canadian teenager Rebecca Middleton and the subsequent failure of Bermudian authorities to secure a conviction for this crime would have been met with universal outrage.

And that is not to say this has not been the reaction of a great many Bermudians, both white and black. But I think that we would delude ourselves if we did not acknowledge the existence of other, decidedly mixed feelings that have greeted the recent series of articles dealing with Becky's murder.

Let me state at the outset that in my opinion it was entirely correct to mark the tenth anniversary of the brutal killing of this Canadian teenager, a visitor to our shores.

It could just as easily have been one of mydaughters (or one of your daughters) who got caught up in the chain of tragic events that culminated in Becky's death. Too often in Bermuda we like to delude ourselves into thinking that certain things we see happening in other countries simply could not happen here.

Maybe that was true once but today we are an extension of the rest of the Western world ? we most assuredly areanother world. In a recent , I alluded to the fact the old, community- oriented Bermuda that many of us grew up in no longer exists.

In many respects we are just like the rest of the world, encumbered with the very same problems and brutish expectations of life that exist in the other societies we watch on the TV news and shake our heads about ? but fail to observe here.

As regards the horrific circumstances of the Middleton murder and the ambivalent feelings the recent reports caused among some Bermudians, it might come as a surprise to some of you to realise that in certain sections of the community there was a profound sense of resentment over the prominence given to the anniversary of this one ugly crime.

But before you take offence to this statement, let us examine the cultural background that might give rise to such feelings.

No doubt what has contributed to the renewed sense of outrage most people are feeling over the murder is the paltry ? even insulting ? sum awarded to the Middleton family by way of damages, well below the maximum $100,000 payment that can be granted by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

The board, as I understand it, is under no obligation to reveal why it reaches the decisions it does in cases like this. But I would think that when both the loss of an innocent life is involved the police and the Bermuda court system then bungle the subsequent prosecutions, those circumstances should push the amount of compensation awarded to the uppermost limits.

But, as I have stated, I don't know the standards or rules employed by the Board to arrive at its decisions.

But I do know of one factor that may have some bearing on this matter ? and that is a Bermudian element which cannot be ignored when it comes to awards given by the Board. We must examine two seemingly separate issues together ? both Bermuda's criminal justice system the subsequent role the Compensation Board plays after a crime is committed and has come before the courts.

It is a cast-iron fact that the circumstances involving the failure to bring a conviction in the case of Becky's murder are not unique. And this reality goes a long way towards explaining the resentment felt by some Bermudians over this issue.

In recent years there have been many murders and/or killings in Bermuda which remain technically unsolved. That is, no one has been successfully prosecuted for these crimes and, in many of these instances, the failure to secure convictions can be laid squarely at the feet of Bermudia's criminal justice system ? the police, the Attorney General's chambers and the courts.

SOME time ago I wrote a about one such case. I interviewed the father of Mark Martin, who was run over by a pleasure boat as he lay floating on a lilo in the waters off Admiralty House on the first day of Cup Match in 1990.

There were witnesses to this tragedy who provided descriptions of a white man behind the wheel of the boat which was also described in detail by those on the shore. But no arrests were ever made. No one was ever brought to justice. To this day the case ? a type of vehicular homicide ? remains open.

As I talked to Mark's father, I could see the disappointment and rage expressed on his face as he talked about the loss of a beloved son and how he and his family had never received justice in Bermuda's courts.

He is convinced that a great cover-up took place and he based that feeling on an anonymous call which he believes came from a police officer who stated that he had evidence pertaining to the death of his son. A meeting was set up but did not take place as the person who made the call never showed up. Today, the Martin family still awaits justice for Mark.

Many years later I signed the petition started by the family of little Tyesiha Cox to change the law which contains certain loopholes allowing car drivers to escape charges of manslaughter in traffic accidents. I felt for the family of Tyesiha Cox, who lost her life just going to school.

Both of these families had justice denied by the failures of Bermuda's judicial system. Perhaps no matter how justified it was to write about the tragic circumstances of the murder of Becky Middleton, this whole failure of Bermuda's judicial system should be placed into a broader context by the media. The media should be highlighting what these systemic failures have meant for Bermudians who have also been its victims.

I don't know whether these facts have ever been put to Becky Middleton's fellow Canadians but they should be. For as a result of the Compensation Board's derisory award to the Middleton family there is now renewed talk of a Canadian economic and tourism boycott of Bermuda (although most Canadians probably do not realise the investments their country has in Bermuda or the fact Bermuda spends millions of dollars educating our young people in Canadian institutions).

From my point of view, such a boycott would only compound the tragedy of Becky's murder. It would be heartbreaking if ties between Bermuda and Canada, which have long enjoyed such tremendous economic and cultural links, now came under threat because this whole tragic story has not been put into its true context.

Both of our countries would lose as a result of any such unofficial Canadian embargo. And, of course, we would be no closer to seeing justice done for either Becky or the other less high-profile victims of Bermuda's increasingly dysfunctional criminal justice system.