Leadership election candidate Terry Lister has heralded the decade-long sentence handed out to a convicted gunman.

Dwayne Signor, 29, shot 18-year-old Shawn Williams in the back during a bar brawl at the Royal Artillery Association Club in St. George early on Easter Sunday.

He was found guilty last month and on Thursday, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons jailed Signor for the mandatory minimum ten years for gun possession.

She added a further three years, to run concurrently , for the wounding of Mr. Williams, who required surgery.

Yesterday, Mr. Lister said: "That really should be sending a message. This is the kind of thing we really need to see. This sentence is by no means a slap on the wrist and I'm really pleased with that."

Mr. Lister, who is vying with Deputy Premier Paula Cox and fellow backbencher Dale Butler to win the Progressive Labour Party leadership next week, added: "When the shootings first started the Police were not getting much assistance.

"Now, within two or three days of a shooting there's an arrest taking place. That's first class."

The Police also welcomed the sentence, saying it "should serve as a strong deterrent for those that seek to undermine the traditionally peaceful way of life in Bermuda".

A spokesman pointed out that over the past few months, all five gun crimes that have been charged in Supreme Court have resulted in convictions.

Cervio Cox, who was involved in a shooting on Court Street in May, has already been sentenced to seven years.

Meanwhile several others are awaiting sentence Omari Gordon, who shot at Police in Middletown in November 2008, Anthony Swan who shot at Raymond Troy "Yankee" Rawlins last December 16, and Alvone Maybury who shot at gang members on Reid Street on last December 18.

Parliament increased the mandatory minimum sentence for gun possession in July 2010, meaning all crimes committed since then carry a minimum of 12 years in jail. There are currently 14 people awaiting trial in the Supreme Court for shooting charges including murder and attempted murder.

Mr. Lister said crime was the number-one concern raised during a series of town hall meetings he held to promote his leadership campaign.

However, despite his effort to reach out to citizens, a recent Royal Gazette poll showed him to be in third place with 12 percent from the Country as a whole, behind Ms Cox (42 percent) and Mr. Butler (25 percent.)

He got even less support from those who described themselves as PLP supporters.

However, Mr. Lister dismissed the figures yesterday, saying: "Poll results you ignore. You simply ignore. It's a nonsense that's my view."