The owner of a Hamilton bar last night said he would be taking legal action against Police and Customs to recoup all repair costs and lost earnings after he had 14 gaming machines seized in a crackdown on illegal spare parts.

Rick Olson, who owns The Beach on Front Street, said since he won a court order to get his machines returned on Monday night, he has realised some are damaged and others are without major parts.

As of yesterday, only three of the 14 gambling machines were operational.

"We have got the machines back, but Police have seized some of the parts, so we can't use them," said Mr. Olson.

"My lawyer, Mark Pettingill, is still trying to get the missing parts back. But some of the machines have also been damaged in transit. A couple of the monitors are not working.

"I am definitely not happy. Basically, we have been reduced to a smidgen of what we used to have. And we are pursuing it through our lawyer.

"I have lost ten days income from the machines, so we are also pursuing that. Our main goal is get back to where we were."

Yesterday, Mr. Pettingill said he had filed a further four applications for establishments to have their seized gaming machines returned, although he would not name them.

He is asking the courts for a hearing to be held to look into the legality of the whole issue, and if the court rules in favour of the establishments, they could each be given damages.

The Royal Gazette understands that The Porch bar and restaurant, and The Jackpot, both on Front Street, are likely to take action.

The Swinging Doors nightclub is taking legal action, along with the Seamont Exclusive mini-casino in Smith's.

Police and Customs swooped on a number of premises where gaming machines were in operation and seized more than 330 machines in their investigation into illegal spare parts.

The Prohibition of Gaming Act 2001 states that while those premises with machines can still operate them, they are not permitted to install new spare parts as and when they are needed.

The idea of the law was to eventually see gaming machines fizzle out, as old machines broke down and were not able to be repaired.

Assistant Collector of Customs Larry Conn said his department had noticed a huge amount of spare parts being imported into the Island, which had been declared for use in video machines.

But he said both he and Police suspected the parts had been illegally installed into gambling machines, instead.

As a result, numerous machines were taken and inspected for spare parts.

But last night, Mr. Olson said he had never fitted any new spare parts into his machines during the last four years, and said he had done nothing to warrant having his machines seized.

But furthermore, he questioned why only some establishments had been targeted on the Island, while others had been totally ignored.

"To my knowledge, those parts are legal," said Mr. Olson.

"They are the original machines and they have not been tampered with. We have nothing to worry about over this, except a big loss of income.

"On average, we take several thousand dollars a week on the machines, but it can vary. We were without them for ten days. We feel we have been victimised and singled out because there are some places that have as many machines and have not been investigated. They should have targeted everyone, or no one at all."

Mr. Olson said since his machines were taken away, he had been forced to reduce the bar's opening hours by ten hours a week. However, he considered himself fortunate because the bar was still viable without them.

He added: "Some places have closed their doors and have been hit very hard, and why?

"There has been no explanation to us, and no one has said whether our missing parts are illegal or not. We are upset about the whole thing."

Mr. Pettingill won a court order on Friday to have the machines returned to The Beach after he claimed in Supreme Court that the warrants used to seize the units were illegal.

But he said he was also eager to recover damages for his client.

And yesterday, he said he filed four more applications for premises to have their gaming machines returned.

The lawyer said: "As part of the action that has been brought on behalf of The Beach, that includes and covers all damages as a result of the machines being seized.

"If the court determines that the machines have been illegally or wrongfully seized, there is a possibility of damages."