A stark warning about the growing trend of groups of thugs launching vicious assaults on lone victims was issued yesterday. The alert came as Police raised concerns over a worrying hike in violent crime.

New figures released yesterday also revealed the highest level of overall reported crime for a three-month period in nearly four years. There were 741 crimes reported in Bermuda between April and June ? a period that saw gang-related shootings and high-profile beatings fuel public safety worries.

Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams said this figure was inflated by significant hikes in violence, house raids and cycle thefts. Commenting on the jump in wounding and grievous bodily harm offences, he said: ?The emerging pattern of behaviour... indicates that groups of individuals are involved in simultaneous attacks on lone victims during which serious injuries are being inflicted.

?When there is more than one victim the assailants usually outnumber them by two to one.?

Mr. Adams yesterday also echoed previous pleas from senior officers about the importance of witnesses reporting crimes.

Investigations into serious assaults and shootings were ?facing challenges?, he added, through lack of cooperation in such a small community.

Referring to the case of Rui Medeiros, the man brutally beaten by a gang of four outside a Front Street bar last month, Mr. Adams said that ?scores? of individuals were known by officers to have witnessed the attack. But only two people have come forward, he told reporters.recently revealed how Spring Garden owner Victor Alleyne was beaten by four men while at work.

And Mr. Adams yesterday repeated details about a 20-year-old man stabbed four times by six men at a gas station on East Broadway, Hamilton, in June.

Mr. Adams said that a number of people had been arrested in the wake of the knife attack, while the DPP was reviewing an affray case against one suspect.

But he said that inquiry had been hampered by the refusal of the victim to co-operate with cops and no witnesses stepping forward.

No arrests have been made in the investigation into April?s Swinging Doors shooting, in which three people got gunshot wounds.

It is understood a lack of cooperation from witnesses is hampering that inquiry, although Mr. Adams confirmed the case was still active, with the Serious Crime Unit ?actively pursuing multiple lines of inquiry?.

The Assistant Commissioner added: ?The investigative process, relying as it does on victims to make officials complaints and witnesses to come forward, is increasingly stymied when those involved do not register a complaint and witnesses do not come forward.

?If you are the victim of any assault then you must at some stage make an official complaint. In the event that you are a witness, then civil responsibilities suggest that you come forward and assist Police. Failure to do so means that the behaviour would continue to everyone?s deterrent.?

He said his appeal was directly prompted by a mass brawl early Sunday near Horseshoe Bay, when three men were battered by a gang of six who used crash helmets as weapons.

Speaking about the rise in group violence, Mr. Adams stated: ?This business of groups of individuals attacking a lone victim or groups attacking two victims is becoming a regular occurrence.?

And he warned the public that if they allowed this ?background of violent crime? to take place, more bloodshed would follow.

The Assistant Commissioner stressed that although the new figures showed a ?significant increase? in violent crime compared to the first quarter of this year ? up from 55 to 71 ? violence for the second quarter alone was at its lowest level since 2003.

Concerns were also raised yesterday over rising numbers of people caught with bladed weapons.

Wounding figures slumped by more than 60 per cent after tough new three-year prison terms for machete possession were introduced last summer.

But that trend has reversed, with arrests for bladed articles increasing as the number of woundings more than doubled compared to the last three months.

Total number of arrests for possession of bladed weapons this quarter was 17. This compared to eleven between January and March and just seven in the last three months of 2005.

Acting Insp. Peter Brentano, crime manager with the force, stressed the use of such weapons was a community problem.

Appealing to parents, he added: ?If your child says he or she is carrying it for personal protection, please use a common-sense approach. We have to break the cycle of violence and it is up to all of us to play our part. We are all accountable.?

Asked if the mandatory prison terms were losing their effectiveness and whether even stiffer sentences were now needed, Mr. Adams declined to comment. He said sentences were an issue for the courts.

Elsewhere, burglaries rose by more than a third compared to the same period last year ? and by more than 50 per cent over the first quarter of 2006, up from 223 to 336. The four central parishes are bearing the brunt of the break-ins, it was revealed.

A newly-formed burglary team is currently probing a series of at least six break-ins involving 15 active, probably drug-fueled, criminals.

At least eight arrests have been made so far and this currently appears to have smashed the breaking chains that have been plaguing neighbourhoods in recent months.

Police said they expect the number of arrests to spiral as the inquiry gathers pace. Patrols have been stepped up at vulnerable areas, particularly tourist properties.

And officers say they expect future burglary figures to dip as a result of the crackdown.

Street-level drug dealing continues to be a problem, and it was confirmed yesterday that the Police Support Unit made 61 street arrests for drug possession between April and June. Arrest figures so far this year are up nearly 120 per cent on 2005.

On vehicle crime, the total number of cycle thefts rose nearly ten per cent on the last quarter, up to 265.

Of all the cycles stolen on the Island, one in four were taken from Hamilton city. Calls have been made for extra beat officers to patrol the city?s streets and Police yesterday said although the CCTV system remained a deterrent, curbing bike thefts in Hamilton remained a ?challenge?.

Asked about Cup Match safety, Mr. Adams said officers were working with organisers to ensure there were enough officers in Somerset for the two-day sporting holiday.

Further questions on Cup Match were not taken yesterday. Reporters were told a press conference on Cup Match policing is due to be held today.