The unsolved murder of Rebecca Middleton is to be revisited after Bermuda's top judge opened a new legal route that may result in fresh charges relating to the 1996 killing.

The Canadian teenager was raped and murdered on a beach ten years ago after accepting a ride on a motorbike when a taxi she and a friend had requested failed to show up.

She was taken to a remote spot at Ferry Reach, St. George's, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered.

No-one has been convicted of her killing but there is renewed hope that perpetrators will be brought to justice for the sexual assault of the 17-year-old immediately before her murder.

Two men have already faced criminal charges relating to the murder. Kirk Mundy was convicted of being an accessory after the fact and, in 1998, Justis Smith was acquitted of a murder charge by a judge who ruled there was no case to answer.

Lawyers working on behalf of Becky's father David Middleton have now succeeded in persuading Chief Justice Richard Ground QC to allow a new court hearing that might pave the way for sexual assault charges to be presented in relation to the murder.

After meeting privately with the Chief Justice last week, Mr. Middleton's team announced on Friday that Mr. Justice Ground was satisfied there was a basis of a legal argument to question whether it was right for Bermuda's Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham Allen to earlier this year rule out any fresh prosecutions relating to the circumstances of Becky's death.

Mr. Middleton, who was in Bermuda when he heard the news, said: "I'm very pleased. We are looking at this as the first step.

"We have had setbacks before and when you get them you wonder if there is any way around them. Something of this nature should be a way to correct something that appears very wrong."

He said attorney Kelvin Hastings-Smith, of law firm Appleby Hunter Bailhache, was very happy with the way things had gone so-far, adding: "It is the result we were looking for."

When the court hearing takes place Mr. Middleton hopes to be there in person to hear the arguments and when asked if he knew when a court hearing will take place said: "The sooner the better."

Mr. Middleton continued: "We now have another avenue to appeal. Every time we have a victory along the way it feels good."

Attorney Jackie Stirling, one of the legal team, expressed delight at the decision and anticipates documents to be filed with the DPP during the coming week with the expectation that a court hearing will take place in the early part of 2007.

Granting permission for a judicial review Mr. Justice Ground explained: "The decision which is sought to review largely turns upon the true application of various legal rules designed to stop the state harassing individuals by bringing repetitive charges on the same set of circumstances.

"The applicant seeks to contend that the DPP incorrectly applied those rules. If the DPP misapplied the rules, then there is a strong public interest in their being applied correctly.

"If, on the other hand, the DPP did apply the rules correctly, then there is a strong public interest in the decision being vindicated after a proper and informed review."

Becky was sexually assaulted and murdered at Ferry Reach on July 3, 1996. In her native Canada the absence of anyone being convicted for the crime has led to criticism of Bermuda's judicial process during the original prosecutions.