Tension ran high yesterday as a Police constable testified against the head of Police Prosecutions Department in a driving without due care trial.

Prosecutor Insp. Kenrick James pleaded not guilty in Magistrates' Court to driving without due care and attention on September 23, 1996 in Devonshire.

The charge stems from an accident at the junction of Montpelier Road and Middle Road.

Magistrate Arthur Hodgson heard that Luisa Almeida, of Parson's Road, Pembroke, was turning onto Middle Road when James, who was travelling east on Middle Road from Hamilton, crashed into her.

But James has maintained that the accident was the fault of P.c. Beverly Basden who was directing traffic at the junction that morning.

P.c. Basden told the court that she had arrived at the junction to direct traffic just before 8 a.m. on September 23 and put on her rain gear as it was "raining quite heavily''.

She said about five minutes after 8 a.m. she was standing near the centre line of the T-junction when she raised her hand to stop traffic on Middle Road in order to allow vehicles from Montpelier Road to turn on to the Middle Road.

P.c. Basden said that when the first car was about to turn the corner on her signal, a grey car coming from the west struck the car in the middle of the intersection.

But when asked by defence lawyer Michael Telemaque to clarify the directions of the cars and where she was standing, P.c. Basden said she was confused on the directions of the scene.

Mr. Telemaque also asked P.c. Basden if she had seen traffic coming from the direction of Hamilton (from the west).

"You can see traffic in the corner of your eye, but I was concentrating on the traffic coming out of Montpelier Road and my hand signal was sufficient,'' she responded.

Mr. Telemaque asked P.c. Basden: "Did you tell Insp. James that you were sorry you did not see him after the accident?''.

P.c. Basden denied this, saying that after the accident she only received information from both parties and wrote up an accident report.

Mr. Telemaque then questioned the procedure by which the accident was recorded and James was charged.

He said according to the first accident report, P.c. Basden had not made any recommendations that charges should be filed against any party in the accident.

Mr. Telemaque then asked how James could be at fault when P.c. Basden in a second report recommended that "both parties take care of their own damages''.

But P.c. Basden said she was not sure what she had recommended.

Mr. Telemaque also asked why the statements of the parties in the accident were taken on November 3, long after the accident.

He suggested that P.c. Basden was under pressure "to manufacture evidence for the prosecution'' after realising the accident took place because she had failed to carry out her duties.

"When superiors realised that you were at fault for the accident, they decided to get the statements and prosecute Insp. James to protect you,'' Mr.

Telemaque said.

"The accident was her fault and that is what this is all about,'' he told Mr.

Hodgson.

But Mr. Hodgson asked why the Police would want to protect an officer who had simply made a mistake.

Crown counsel Leighton Rochester asked P.c. Basden if the decision to prosecute James was her own.

She said no and referred to the Police Service's chain of command, saying that she was told to write a ticket for James by a higher-ranking officer.

The second Crown witness to testify yesterday was Susie Almeida, who was in the passenger's seat of her mother's car.

She told the court that it was raining heavily on the day of the accident.

As P.c. Basden signalled for their car to turn onto Middle Road from Montpelier Road a man driving from the direction of Hamilton crashed into them before they had even gotten to the line, she recalled.

Under cross examination by Mr. Telemaque, she said James called her home after 7 p.m. that evening. She was on the telephone along with her mother, since her mother spoke limited English, she explained.

She said James told her mother that the accident was her mother's fault and asked her what she planned to do.

James also spoke to her and asked her where P.c. Basden was standing, she added.

"When I told him that she was standing in the middle of the street on the yellow line, he called me a liar,'' she said.

The younger Almeida also testified that P.c. Basden first stopped traffic, signalled for her mother to come forward, and stepped back to allow her mother to pass.

Her mother and her brother, Nelson Almeida, gave similar testimonies.

And despite repeated questioning from the defence, the Almeidas remained adamant about their statements.

After the Crown closed its case, Mr. Telemaque made a no-case submission.

He claimed James had the right of way and that when P.c. Basden stepped back she was no longer "in charge of the traffic''.

But Mr. Hodgson rejected the motion, saying: "Are you saying that a Police officer standing in the middle of Montpelier Road is not in charge of traffic?'' The case was adjourned until September 9.