Forensic scientists discovered gunshot residue on a motorcycle found in Botanical Gardens in the aftermath of a shooting outside a Hamilton nightclub.

Devon Hewey, 25, Cervio Cox, 30, both from Warwick, and Julian Washington, 24, from Pembroke, all deny two charges of attempted murder and using a firearm outside Shine’s nightclub in the early hours of March 24, 2012.

Neither of the men allegedly targeted — Levon Thomas and Darren Thompson — were shot in the incident, which sparked a high-speed chase to the Botanical Gardens where officers found a motorcycle with its engine and muffler still warm and the keys in the ignition.

While only two men were on the motorcycle used in the shooting, the Crown has said that all three defendants have been forensically linked to the shooting and can be found guilty of the crime.

As the trial continued yesterday, the jury heard testimony from forensic scientist Allison Murtha from the RJ Lee Group in Pennsylvania.

She told the court that in April of 2012 the company received several items from the Bermuda Police Service to test for gunshot residue (GSR), a combination of lead, barium and antimony fused together when a firearm is discharged.

True GSR, made up of all three elements, can only be formed by discharging a firearm.

“GSR can be deposited by circumstances such as discharging a firearm, being in proximity of a discharging firearm, or coming in contact with a surface or object that has GSR on it,” she said.

A gunshot can also produce two-component particles lacking one of the three elements but such particles can also come from a handful of other sources, including brake pad linings, fireworks, anodised nail guns and the explosion of an airbag.

In cases where two-component or single component particles are found, Ms Murtha said they look for extraneous elements which can help to determine the origin of the particles.

“We do everything possible to make sure that the particles we report come from a population of gun shot residue,” she said.

Listing the results of her tests, she told the court that seven particles of GSR had been found on a helmet recovered from Botanical Gardens and two had been found on the rear pillion grips of the motorcycle found in the same park. Both items also had six two-component particles.

Two-component particles were found on the motorcycle’s hand grips, a second helmet found in the park, latex gloves and several items of clothing seized by police during their investigation.

All but one of the 21 items tested by the RJ Lee Group were found to have single-component particles.

The trial continues on Monday.