The detective in overall charge of the botched investigation into the murder of Rebecca Middleton yesterday denied one of two suspects was offered a deal of a lesser charge -- describing it instead as a "strategy''.

Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Vic Richmond took the oath for the second time in the probe into the handling of serious crimes on the Island.

He admitted talking to defence lawyer Mark Pettingill, who was representing murder suspect Kirk Mundy, about a proposal to charge his client with the lesser charge of accessory after the fact.

He said Mr. Pettingill approached him and another officer suggesting that Mundy would testify against his co-accused Justis Smith, provided he was not jointly charged with Rebecca's murder.

The hearing heard how just minutes later, the officers attended a pre-arranged meeting with top prosecutors at the Attorney General's chambers, including the now Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo.

Mr. Richmond said: "I do not have the power or any authority to make deals or plea bargain.

"I think it was my duty to convey to the Attorney General what Mr. Pettingill had talked about.'' He told the hearing that at that meeting it was decided that Smith would be charged with murder and Mundy accessory after the fact, as suggested by Mr.

Pettingill.

He said: "We were under some pressure. This was now 48 hours after the arrest of Smith and Mundy.

"We had pre-arranged to have a special court sitting (the following morning).

We were under some pressure.

"The strategy that is used in some occasions is to go for holding charges as oppose to bailing persons for serious criminal offences. We decided what the charges would be for each person and that the investigation would continue.'' Police can initially charge suspects with one crime and then carry on the investigation to glean more information, with the possibility of changing the charges later.

However, in Mundy's case, the charges were not changed and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.

Commissioner Don Dovaston asked Mr. Richmond if a deal had been struck at the meeting, or suggested to him that the notion of a deal could be "folly''.

Mr. Richmond replied: "No'', there was no deal.

"He continued: "The only person who could have misconstrued it would be Mr.

Pettingill himself, based on the comment made by Inspector Crockwell when he handed him a copy of the charge sheet at court the next morning.'' Insp. Stuart Crockwell is alleged by Mr. Pettingill to have said: "There you go, you got what you wanted.'' Chairman Mr. Justice Stanley Moore said: "Did anyone at that meeting suggest the offering of a deal to anyone?'' The witness replied: "No, sir.'' Mr. Richmond told the hearing last week that the decision to charge Mundy with the lesser offence had come out of several factors.

He said the Attorney General and prosecutors suggested they use the "ploy'' of a lesser charge for one of the accused in order to gain information about the other because it had been used before in another murder case and had been successful in getting both people convicted.

But yesterday he said that ploy or strategy was not what he or the prosecutors had considered a deal.

The inquiry continues this morning.

MURDER MUR CRIMES CRM