Four arrested after gun attack at bar

Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security (Photograph by Akil Simmons)



Four arrests were made over 48 hours after a gun attack on a Hamilton bar, the Minister of National Security said yesterday.

Wayne Caines told Parliament that he would be unpopular for taking a hard line on antisocial behaviour.

But he added: We will not give safe harbour to anyone shooting and causing mayhem in this country.

Those young men that did that do not represent us as a people.

Mr Caines was speaking after a bullet was fired through a door window at Docksider bar on Front Street and lodged in the ceiling.

No one was hurt in the incident, which happened after people took refuge in the bar after they were followed along Front Street.

Opposition MP Michael Dunkley, a former national security minister, said he supported Mr Caines for his enthusiastic commitment and decision to get on top of this situation.

Progressive Labour Party MP Michael Scott warned against a stronger response to an incident on Front Street compared with other areas like Happy Valley in Pembroke.

He said: If we show disparity, it sends a dispiriting message.

OBA backbencher Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said the incident was distressing and disturbing, especially after a lull in violent crime.

Ms Gordon-Pamplin said it would be a worry if police had different response times to crimes dependent on whether places were owned by black people or white people.

She added: A significant percentage of our police force are black. If this is the case there is some serious work to be done.

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