A former Cabinet Minister has warned that publicity about a bullet sent to the Premier this week could inspire copycat incidents of a more serious nature.

Harry Viera urged Ewart Brown not to take the threat too seriously saying: "It's my message to him that he's already surrounded by more security than Bermuda has ever had. It's really a non-issue.

"I'm not saying this should not be acknowledged, but I am saying that it should not be blown out of proportion. You might get some crazy out there who gets worked up, and I'm no psychiatrist but these things can cause consequences they did not expect."

David Burch, Minister of Public Safety, announced on Tuesday that security has been stepped up around the Premier after postal workers intercepted a letter containing the bullet and a threatening letter at the airport sorting office.

Mr. Viera said he was the recipient of numerous threats during his time as an outspoken member of the United Bermuda Party while the Island was in the grip of racial unrest.

"I was in parliament for three decades and from 1968 to 1977 there were threats flying all over the place and I don't think anybody got more than me, that's for sure. My view is this: I never believed in taking them seriously.

"If someone is going to harm you they don't usually call you up and tell you about it. No-one called John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr. to say they were going to shoot them. Those who send letters ¿ you would not worry about it. Anyone who sends a message like that has to be a nutcase. No sane person does that," he speculated.

Mr. Viera, 73, who now lives in North Carolina said for this reason he does not wish to see the incident affecting Dr. Brown "played up into too much of a big thing''.

He explained: "I had threats by phone, on the street, the brakes were cut on my scooter. I had no end of them. There was one when a jailbird threatened me with a knife on the street. I didn't always report those things to the Police because the more you make of them, they will lead to copycat incidents.

"That's one of the reasons why in the US there's been a rash of school shootings. If you give them too much prominence it's the copycat I'm concerned about," he said.

The Progressive Labour Party issued a statement which also sought to play down the significance of the incident, describing it as "just another political dirty trick".

It continued: "Dame Lois Browne-Evans and Ottiwell Simmons were subjected to exactly the same kind of attempted intimidation by our political opponents. It will take more than a threatening package to distract Premier Ewart Brown and the PLP from its mission of managing Bermuda's resources to do the greatest good for the greatest number of Bermudians."

PLP chairman David Burt later expanded on the statement saying it was a matter of public record that Dame Lois had a bullet sent to her and Mr. Simmons relieved death threats.

"I imagine the criminal who sent the threat to the Premier wanted to distract the party from its platform goals. I don't want to give that person the satisfaction of spending any more time on this issue," he said.

Meanwhile, a Police spokesman yesterday declined to comment on the progress of the investigation beyond saying it was continuing.