A motorcyclist caught on camera holding on to the national security minister’s official car as it drove through Hamilton said yesterday that he was sorry for the embarrassment he caused.

Marvin Woolridge apologised for the bad publicity the video had generated for Wayne Caines and put his actions down to a bad decision.

“I am very sorry that I even put minister Caines in that position,” Mr Woolridge said. “I am very sorry for that and I apologise to Bermuda and I apologise to the travelling public.

“It’s not something that I do every day. But in the little defence in me, I rode motocross.

“I’m not saying I’m the best rider in the world, but I can ride. I didn’t put anybody in danger.”

Mr Woolridge added: “The conversation that I was having, opposed to the law that I was breaking, doesn’t justify me doing it, but definitely overrides that because the conversation — and he didn’t mention that but I’ll mention that — was about the violence.

“I’ve lived a street life and everybody that knows me knows I have lived a street life. I have children that’s come up in that street life.

“It was a bad choice of mine. And I live by that there — in life, you have choices.

“And out of those choices you only get two things: you either reap the benefits or suffer the consequences.

It was a bad choice that I made and once again I apologise to minister Caines and I apologise to the travelling public.”

The video showed Mr Caines’s official GP plate car driving through Hamilton, including Victoria Street, with the bike beside the car.

The bike rider leant into the driver’s window several times while appearing to hold on to the door.

The video attracted hundreds of comments and Mr Caines defended his actions on his personal Facebook page, posting that he had tried to stop the rider and told him his actions were illegal.

Mr Woolridge posted under the video using the name “Manga Duke”, admitting he was the rider and apologising to Mr Caines.

He added yesterday that Mr Caines told him several times to stop riding next to him.

Mr Woolridge said: “Caines didn’t do anything wrong. Stop trying to make it look like this man was encouraging me to ride along and talk. He wasn’t.

“Caines is a good man, he is a good politician and he means well for Bermuda. It was really just my bad choice to continue riding and finishing my conversation. I just wanted to finish what I was saying quickly and I just did not think that it would have caused this much attention and blown up like this.”

He added: “There’s a lot of things I would have done different. I would ask him next time, ‘Let’s pull over’ or call him. It was just the fact that I saw him.

“What country in the world can you just roll up on your politician like that?”

Mr Woolridge added: “What I do realise is when you are a public figure, the little things are all that people [critics] look for, especially when it’s party against party.”

Mr Woolridge said he still planned to follow up on the conversation.

A Bermuda Police Service spokesman said on Tuesday: “We will look at the evidence, with input from the Department of Public Prosecutions, to determine whether any offences are disclosed.”

No update was provided by press time yesterday.

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