South Shore Road near Pink Beach Club has sent shudders through the Country.

Bermudians like to think that Bermuda is relatively free of violent crimes where the victims are unknown to the assailants. Indeed, in the overseas tourism market, Bermuda has a reputation for being safe and sane and well run just as it also has a reputation for being expensive.

Every so often there is a crime which grabs the public attention and overshadows other current events. Gary and Celia Bradshaw of Houston, Texas, were cycling to their hotel on the public road very early on Wednesday morning, apparently after a night out. It appears that they were followed and attacked and lost control of their cycle. They were then put upon in the street, beaten with a sticks and robbed of a wallet containing cash.

This robbery has attracted attention because it is more than a robbery. A sneak thief in a hotel room or a theft from clothing on the beach would not have attracted a fraction of the attention. This crime has upset the public because violence along with robbery is alien to Bermuda. It was the beating, coupled with the suggestion that the robbery was planned, which sent shudders through the Country. There is also a very unsettling element in that this happened to people who are minding their business and riding along on the public road.

This kind of vicious crime directed at visitors at a time when Bermuda is struggling to attract and keep visitors is also very sad. When Bermudians behave this way towards their bread and butter they negate the efforts being made by every other Bermudian. For a number of years now the Ministry of Tourism has been spending huge sums of money trying to attract people from Texas to Bermuda. Texas and California were considered a new market for Bermuda. It is impossible to tell how much damage was done to that plan when the Bradshaws were forced off their cycle and beaten and robbed. But, make no mistake, a great deal of damage was done.

Visitors are particularly susceptible to this kind of crime because they are so often uncertain on the cycle, unfamiliar with Bermuda's roads and thus riding along slowly with no knowledge of how to escape quickly or how to seek help when they are set upon. Thus visitors are easy prey for people who might not have the nerve to pick on Bermudians.

We understand that things are tough and the recession has made it hard for any number of Bermudians but taking action which drives away our visitors is not the answer to better financial times. Forcing visitors off their cycle and beating them with sticks is a formula for ruin.