New Director of Public Prosecutions Rory Field has spoken of his determination to provide greater support to witnesses.

Mr. Field wants to establish a special unit to offer reassurance and advice to those involved in the court process.

He hopes this will eventually encompass a full-scale witness protection programme.

The unsolved murders of Shaundae Jones, 20, Shaki Crockwell, 25, and Jason Lightbourne, 18, have brought the issue of witness protection to the fore in recent years.

Mr. Jones was shot leaving a nightclub at Dockyard in April 27 2003. Mr. Lightbourne was gunned down on Ord Road, Paget in July last year.

Speaking in the aftermath of the shooting death of Mr. Crockwell in Devonshire in August, Mr. Jones' mother Marsha Jones spoke of the need for such a move.

"They seriously need a witness protection plan... people get killed, then they pick up the suspects, then they have to let them go because they've not got enough evidence. People are not willing to go to court.

"Then they walk away and the family is left behind to suffer. Ninety percent of the time, they have a very good idea who the suspect is in these situations," she told The Royal Gazette.

Mr. Field, who took over as head prosecutor from temporary appointment Juan Wolffe on September 5 told The Royal Gazette this week: "Witness protection and witness support is something I want to bring in here and get well involved in that.

"When people think of witness protection, they often think of taking somebody out of the jurisdiction because that person is under extreme threat, but that is only one small part of witness protection, and it's also very expensive," he said.

"What one needs is a variety of different operations going on which require different qualifications.

"For instance you require witness support which is making sure the witness is told when the case is going to come up.

"When they get to court, someone explains to them who's going to be asking the questions, and sits them down somewhere so they are not going to be harassed by the defendant or the people in league with them.

"That's witness support and then you move up from that to levels of witness protection, such as having someone have an alarm installed in their house or Police sitting outside the house or physical protection of their body.

"And then you move further down the line to the extreme levels where you might actually relocate somebody for the rest of their life to another place.

"Well, we're starting off at the witness support bit. That will include psychological support and I'm hoping that we can develop further along the line to greater and greater levels of witness support so the witnesses feel more and more comfortable with coming to court and saying what it is their duty to say."

At the moment, said Mr. Field, the office of the Department of Public Prosecutions has a member of staff who gives some support to witnesses.

"I would like to grow it from that — to at least a small unit with a premises where people can actually go. It must be said that that is the start. I would like to see it expand from there. It has to be step by step, you can't go immediately to the end point," he said.

Detectives have frequently spoken of their frustration at the community's silence towards violent crime. In August Detective Superintendent Randy Liverpool encouraged Government to further their efforts toward establishing a witness protection scheme, saying: "It is well known that we have been having difficulties with witnesses wanting to come forward in an inquiry. The Police Service would love to find a way to change that and a lot of consultation is being looked at the moment.

"A witness protection scheme is one of the things being considered and that is something we would welcome if it would encourage people to come forward."

The Island hosted a conference aimed at modernising the criminal justice system in Bermuda earlier this year. Justice Minister and Attorney General Philip Perinchief said, at the time, that vulnerable witnesses and victims of crime could be moved abroad prior to trials to prevent intimidation.

Continued protection may also be considered under legislative measures to improve the Island's criminal justice system, he said, and a committee has been formed to look at establishing a victim and witness care unit.