After the Court of Appeal dismissed the Crown's case against him yesterday, a visibly relieved Dean Anthony Minors told The Royal Gazette that he was glad the two-year ordeal was behind him.

"Can you imagine having a concrete block over your head for two years?" he asked. "Now the weight's been lifted."

Mr. Minors, 32, of Wellington Slip, St. George's was acquitted by a jury last February of importation and possession of cannabis valued at more than $200,000. On New Year's Day last year, he was arrested after a set of drawers he said he was bringing to Bermuda for his long-time friend, Greg Foggo, was discovered to have ten bags of cannabis stuffed in the panels.

The well-known cricketer and CedarBridge Academy teacher had maintained his innocence throughout his three-week trial.

In his submissions, Queen's Counsel John Perry, who led lawyer Chen Foley, told the three-judge panel: "This appeal is misconceived. There are no rights of appeal under the circumstances of this case. This court has no jurisdiction to hear this appeal."

Citing several precedent cases, Mr. Perry stressed that the Crown could not appeal Mr. Minors' acquittal unless it was questioning a point of law.

"No where in Section 17.2 of the Criminal Code does the draftsman give a judgement against an acquittal," he said. "Once acquitted, the decision is final...This was a jury verdict on the merit of the case."

But Mrs. Graham Allen said the Crown had grounds to appeal Mr. Minors' sentence because it believed Assistant Justice Archibald Warner misdirected the jury.

"The trial judge did not fully explain to the jury the standard of proof," she said.

"But the jury followed the guidelines given by Mr. Warner, so what is so difficult?" asked Court of Appeals judge Sir James Astwood.

"The difficulty is the clear direction of future trials," Mrs. Graham Allen said.

"So when he (Dean Minors) gets acquitted, you want to keep retrying him?" asked Sir James.

And when she was asked by the Appeals Court whether it was enough for the trial judge to read out the section of the Misuse of Drugs Act which pertained to Mr. Minors' case, the Crown counsel said that it was not.

The Appeals Court then dismissed the Crown's case to which Mr. Foley said: "It (the decision) is consistent. We are just waiting for the judgement."

And while he said he did not wish to speak extensively about his ordeal coming to an end, Mr. Minors told The Royal Gazette: "I'd just love to thank God and Mr. John Perry, my family and those who supported me through this trying time."