The lawyer of a young man injured in a drive-by shooting said last night that parents needed to take responsibility for the violent and senseless actions of their children.

Llewellyn Peniston told The Royal Gazette he did not know what prompted the attack on 22-year-old Prince Edness on Princess Street in Hamilton on Monday night but that it was indicative of a serious problem in the community.

"These random acts of violence are arising and are of real concern in our community," said Mr. Peniston, adding that parents failed to impose curfews or take sufficient interest in their children's behaviour.

He said that just as dog owners get prosecuted for their pet's crimes it should follow that parents pay the price in court for the actions of their offspring.

"We need to seriously look at the law in terms of joining parents to defendants as a means of elevating the obligation on their parts to be aware and have a greater role in the conduct of their children and the effect of their behaviour," said the former senator.

Mr. Edness, who is known to the Police, was shot in the leg by a gunman on a motorcycle and was last night in a stable condition in the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Detectives are investigating claims that the attack was in retaliation for an earlier incident involving gun activity in the St. Monica's Road area of Pembroke.

Police warned earlier this month that there had been an increase in violence among young men in that area and said reports of suspected gunfire activity had been received.

A press release issued on August 8 said officers were on a heightened state of alert and would be responding appropriately to any incidents.

Monday's shooting marks the latest violent attack on a young male and comes little more than a week after the killing of 18-year-old Kellon Hill, whose funeral was held yesterday.

Public Safety Minister David Burch expressed "sadness and bewilderment" at the shooting.

Sen. Burch added that he had been in discussions with both the Police Commissioner and Prisons Commissioner and others "to discuss ways of forging ahead to inact joint solutions as it relates to addressing the scourge of violence in our community".

Former UBP Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness said: "Like everybody else I am terribly sorry that this has happened to another one of our young men. Hopefully he'll recover."

Mr. Edness, who believes the victim is related to him although he does not know him, said: "I'm very concerned about the increase in violence that's taking place in Bermuda.

"I have my ideas as to what should be done to deal with it. I know everybody is putting the blame on parents and what not but I think there's a lot of action that has to be done by the authorities."

Mr. Edness called on the Governor to "take responsibility for the safety and security of everybody on this Island", adding that Sir Richard Gozney needed to work closely with the Police Commissioner and Senator Burch to tackle the problem.

"Once they have come to some conclusion as to what they should or should not do, they should put it to the public. It should be a very large concrete plan for the entire community."

Rich Lathan, executive director of Keep Bermuda Beautiful, whose office is close to the scene of the shooting, suggested that everybody in the community had their part to play.

"I don't feel I have made really good contact with these guys," he said. "I feel I should make more of an effort."

Terry Smith, organiser of the Miss Teen Bermuda pageant, said the Island had plenty of activities for girls but less for boys.

"I personally think that youngsters are not given enough direction early in life," he said. "I think we fail to do that for our young men.

"They are not used to organisation and structure. We should have something for them to do."

A business owner on Princess Street said young men were bombarded with images of wealth and wanted some for themselves, leading to violence and drug abuse.

"Those denied yesterday are trying to catch up," he said.

* What do you think about the latest violent incident? E-mail your views to news@royalgazette.bm.