attack involving machetes and baseball bats.

Police said the suspects -- aged between 18 and 24 -- had been quizzed about the June 2 beating of 21-year-old Alan Richardson.

Mr. Richardson was set upon by an angry mob after being hemmed in on his bike by at least 30 cars and motorcycles on Smith's Avenue, Warwick.

He suffered severe cuts and bruises, he still walks with a limp and has to wear a hi-tech splint to help him use his right arm. The Royal Gazette learned of the arrests last night and all the men are thought to be involved with the notorious Whitewall gang in Hamilton.

They have been remanded on Police bail while the inquiry continues. Detectives began their inquiries with the theory that Mr. Richardson was the victim of mistaken identity.

And a Police spokeswoman denied complaints from the victim's father that detectives were too slow to investigate.

She said: "The incident happened on June 2 and we got the call just before 11 p.m.

"We began investigating and took statements from the victim. Police made their first arrest on June 9. Since then, seven other people have been arrested, the latest on Wednesday. They have all been interviewed and bailed to re-appear at Hamilton Police station and the investigation is on-going.'' The victim's father, 48-year-old Allan, is a licensed private investigator -- and has vowed vengeance for his son.

He warned the gang members still hiding: "Come and fight me next!'' And he complained Police waited six days before starting their investigation into the brutal beating.

Mr. Richardson said officers first treated the incident as a common assault, only later treating it more seriously.

He added: "It happened on the Tuesday night and at first Police just treated it as a common assault and didn't even take witness statements.

"The next Monday, they decided to investigate the case seriously. But by that time everybody involved had an alibi.

"If I find the Police aren't doing anything, I'll take the law into my own hands and get these thugs myself. "The Police aren't tough enough here.

Bermudians aren't going to go and arrest or fight their own families. It's time we got more expats in.'' Mr. Richardson, of Patience Avenue in Somerset, said he had found out the attackers were members of the Whitewall gang. And he said he had already started piecing together his own clues.

"The gang were looking for some guy called Smith, who lives in Warwick,'' he added.

"He must have had a black bike just like my son.'' He claimed Police responding to the initial emergency call simply circled the area in patrol cars -- as every member of the gang had scattered.

Officers went to see Alan in hospital about 20 minutes later. "But he was in so much pain he couldn't talk,'' said Mr. Richardson. "He had been in that area because he went to pick up his 18-year-old sister Daveen from some friends'.

"I got the call that he'd been badly beaten. And when I got down there, he was just crying: `Daddy, daddy, daddy'.'' Alan, nicknamed Chief, has already had to give up work as a mechanic at Wheels.

The former Sandys Secondary pupil said he would have to wear the splint on his arm for another four months.

SCARRED -- Allan Richardson (left) with his son Alan, still bearing the scars of the gang attack.