Assistant Justice Archie Warner yesterday said gang violence in Bermuda had to be brought to an end when he sentenced a man to three years for a revenge baseball bat attack that left the victim with serious head injuries.

Perry Kuhn Simons, 25, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on Ki-Won Butterfield outside The New Woody's Drive Inn on Boaz Island in the early hours of September 2 last year.

Mr. Butterfield, of Ratteray Lane, Sandys, was found unconscious outside the bar with skull and face fractures and was in critical condition at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for some days. The court heard how a day after the attack, fearing for his own safety, Simons had turned himself into Police after he had received a beating from one of Mr. Butterfield's relatives.

Simons told Police that he had attacked the 22-year-old out of anger and emotion because he had been stabbed by Mr. Butterfield in 1999. He said he had spent two months in hospital with internal injuries, and, although he had refused to identify his attacker to Police, had also needed counselling for drug addiction, his emotional state and anger management.

"But on the night in question last year, he said he lost control. The court heard how he habitually carried the aluminium baseball bat in his trousers.

He was at first charged with the attempted murder of Mr. Butterfield, with intent to do him grievous bodily harm, unlawful wounding, and being in possession of an offensive weapon. But in April, Prosecutor Vinette Graham-Allen agreed to accept a guilty plea to GBH, and agreed to leave the charge of GBH with intent on file. Yesterday, Simons faced only one charge, that of GBH.

Mr. Justice Warner said he had read all the evidence and believed the attack was the result of gang violence.

"It would seem that that night up there, everyone was armed to the teeth and looking for a fight," said Mr. Justice Warner. "He was not carrying this bat because he was stabbed. He was carrying it because all the other boys had these weapons for when they started fighting. This is gang violence. This is clear evidence that there are two groups up there (in Somerset) fighting each other. He virtually beat the brains of Butterfield in. The evidence is that the victim was beaten relentlessly while he was on the ground.

"This is not an ordinary attack where a fella loses his temper and hits him once."

He added: "There is no doubt in my mind from reading the evidence in this case that this is one of those cases where groups were fighting each other and have got outstanding beefs over small issues that have been creating a problem of violence in Bermuda which must be stopped. I think this is a case that faces a high deterrent factor."

Prosecuting, lawyer Graveney Bannister told the court that Simons, a landscaper, of Long Bay Lane, Sandys, had refused to tell Police who had stabbed him, and the incident was not investigated.

The prosecutor said Simons had similar convictions for violence and being in possession of an offensive weapon, and he suggested he be given the maximum sentence for the offence - five years.

But Mr. Warner criticised the Department of Public Prosecutions and Mr. Bannister for putting before the court a statement of facts that was "woefully inadequate". And when Mr. Bannister raised the possibility of changing the charge back to GBH with intent, which carries a greater sentence, he came under fire from Mr. Justice Warner, who questioned why the DPP had agreed to accept a plea to a lesser charge in the first place.

The Assistant Justice said: "They accepted a lesser plea on a section 306 and asked the court that section 305 (with intent) remain on the file, not to be proceeded with except with leave of the court. And now you are asking leave of the court to raise that count?

"I have had the opportunity of perusing this file last week and over the weekend and this course of action by the DPP astounds me."

And he said he considered the offence warranted a much more detailed summary than the prosecutor had read to the court.

"The statement of facts is supposed to put before the court all the relevant evidence that the court is asked to assess with the view of coming to an appropriate sentence. If it's skimpy, like this, how can a court make a proper evaluation?"

Later, Mr. Warner remarked: "The statement of facts starts out talking about how he (Simons) was the victim of a stabbing. What does that have to do with this case?"

Larry Mussenden, in mitigation, asked Mr. Justice Warner to consider a two-to-three year sentence for his client and said he was full of remorse for his actions, and only wanted to become a productive member of the community.

The defence lawyer said: "Mr. Simons appears in this court today as a person full of remorse, who turned himself into Police, assisted Police with their inquiries and made two full statements. My client did plead guilty to grievous bodily harm.

"He did not have the best father and son relationship, and he wants to make sure that when his son is growing up he can be there in all aspects of fatherhood. This is somebody that certainly deserves a chance."

The defence attorney said a baseball bat could not be considered a deadly weapon and was not as lethal as a knife or machete. Mr. Mussenden criticised Police for failing to investigate the stabbing, and said even if Simons had refused to name his attacker, the Police had a duty to follow it up.

He added: "It appals me to no end that there will not be an investigation. I don't need to tell the Police how to do their job."

But Mr. Justice Warner repeatedly asked why Simons had refused to name his attacker to Police. And he said: "If someone punctures your bowels with a knife, is that more threatening than someone trying to bash your brains in with a baseball bat?"

He sentenced Simons to three years in prison. He said he had planned to jail him for four, but reduced it by 12 months after reading a letter of remorse the defendant had written. The letter was not read to the court.

Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo was not on the Island yesterday for comment.