from overseas in order to proceed with the Rebecca Middleton murder case.

Crown counsel Nita Grewal disclosed this yesterday when 17-year-old Justis Smith and 21-year-old Kirk Mundy re-appeared in Magistrates' Court in connection with the case.

Smith has been charged with the premeditated murder of the Canadian teenager who was visiting the Island. Mundy was charged with being an accessory to the July 3 killing.

Lawyers Archibald Warner and Elizabeth Christopher, who represent Smith, have complained about the time it has taken the Crown to produce evidence for a preliminary inquiry.

Mr. Warner last month accused the Crown of dragging its feet and has demanded to know why Smith, who is at the Senior Training School in St. George's, has been remanded "for so long''.

And yesterday Miss Christopher noted almost two months had passed since Smith had been charged. Clearly frustrated, she said she did not want to return to court again in vain.

But Ms Grewal said forensic procedures, being carried out in Ottawa, Canada, took time and the Crown could not proceed without the forensic evidence.

Smith and Mundy, who is represented by Mark Pettingill and being kept at Westgate Correctional Facility in Dockyard, were remanded for a further two weeks.

The pair will return to court on September 19 for mention.

ATTORNEY GENERAL AG