Bermuda's MPs appear to be lining up against the death penalty ever being used on the Island again.

The news comes after a street survey see Page 2 following the brutal murder of an elderly widow in her own home showed a split on the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

The Government Minister for law and order, Quinton Edness said he had set his face against the use of the rope on the Island.

He said: "I've always opposed the death penalty and I have no reason to change that opinion. I believe this sort of thing can be dealt with without the use of capital punishment.

"I'm a strong believer that violence begets violence and it's a terrible thing when the state kills.'' Mr. Edness added: "I have great sympathy with the victim in this most recent case and I will do everything in my power to stop it happening again. But I don't think we have to renew the death penalty to achieve that.'' Bermuda is the last of Britain's dozen or so Dependent Territories still to have the death penalty on its books, although it has not been used since 1977.

Mr. Edness said the UK had -- in Dependent Territories which had different constitutions from Bermuda -- used its influence to end capital punishment.

And he added: "They have certainly indicated that they would be happy if we didn't have the death penalty.'' Mr. Edness said: "My great fear is that poor people don't have the access to the same legal representation as wealthier people and they are unable to get the best defence. And to kill an innocent person is abhorrent.'' And he added: "I don't believe that we have the right to take a life -- only the good Lord has the right to do that.'' Mr. Edness said that he understood why some people would want to see the death penalty applied in the case of someone who murdered a defenceless elderly woman like Beatrice Simons, 69, who died in hospital six days after a brutal late night attack in her Sandys home.

He admitted: "There are times, from an emotional point of view, when I see that -- but logically and spiritually, I don't agree with killing.'' The last two to die at the hangman's hands in Bermuda were Erskine (Buck) Burrows and Larry Tacklyn.

Burrows alone was convicted of the murder of Governor Sir Richard Sharples and his ADC Capt. Hugh Sayers that year and Police Commissioner George Duckett the year before. Their deaths at Casemates Prison sparked large-scale riots.

In 1990, Bermuda's first referendum showed a majority in favour of the death penalty -- but only a third of voters went to the polls.

And in 1995, Rudolph West was sentenced to death for the brutal murder of his estranged wife Rochelle.

His sentence, however, was commuted to life in prison by then-Governor Lord Waddington, a former UK Home Secretary tagged as a supporter of the death penalty.

The Governor -- acting on the advice of a five-strong committee whose names are a closely-guarded secret -- has the prerogative of mercy in cases where the death penalty has been passed.

The UK Government in October backed a Council of Europe call for the universal abolition of the death penalty and British MPs -- allowed a vote of conscience on the issue -- have always rejected the re-introduction of capital punishment since it was abolished, for all practical purposes, in 1965.

While any future decisions would be for whichever Governor was in place, it is understood the UK position, and that of most of the western world, would be taken into consideration.

Shadow Labour and Home Affairs Minister Alex Scott backed his opposite number's views and said the Progressive Labour Party had traditionally been opposed to the death penalty.

Mr. Scott said: "The party is on record as campaigning against the death penalty, not in the context of this particular incident, but we do not support it.

He agreed the death sentence was "not an appropriate response'' even to murder.

And Mr. Scott added: "If someone is wrongly convicted and put to death and later information comes to the fore that the person is innocent, there is no way you can reverse the error made by the state.''