The Government will continue to invest in social services in an attempt to combat violent crime, the Premier pledged last night. David Burt said: “This government’s investments in education, training, mental health and programmes like redemption farms, as well as new programmes for those young people who have aged out of the Department of Child and Family Services, will be continued because it is through these programmes that we effect the change we need to see in families and our young people.”Mr Burt was speaking after a holiday weekend of violence, in which a man died after he was stabbed several times at a petrol station in Warwick on Sunday night and another man was shot and wounded in St George’s the night before. There was also a battle at John Smith’s Bay between groups of men on Saturday, as well as reports of shots being fired in the Middletown area of Pembroke.Mr Burt said: “The recent violence is an unfortunate setback, but the change in priority of investment and focusing on people we ushered in has enjoyed a level of success that proves we must continue devoting our resources to this critical effort.”Mr Burt offered his condolences to the family of the 22-year-old man who was stabbed to death at the Rubis petrol station on South Road.He said: “The events of this weekend serve to remind us that the work is never-ending if we are to address the root causes of the violence and antisocial activity in this community.”