A Bermuda Police officer was last night mourning the deaths of two sons after they were stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Barbados.

Justin and William Greene ? sons of Barbadian narcotics officer Ronald Greene ? are reported to have been killed after a dispute with a group of men in the early hours of yesterday.

It is understood that Justin, 21, and William, 25, were Detective Constable Greene?s sons from a previous relationship.

The officer, from Smith?s, is believed to have two other children from his current marriage to a fellow Police officer. In a brief statement issued last night on behalf of Det Con Greene and his family, Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said: ?The family is still coming to terms with the realities of the situation that?s taken place.

?They say they have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from their friends, family and colleagues.?

According to Inspector Barry Hunte of the Royal Barbados Police, the brothers, who are Barbadian nationals, had been attending a function at the nightclub in Cavans Lane, Bridgetown, when the incident unfolded at 3 a.m yesterday. ?They were involved in a dispute with a group of men and I?m advised that outside the nightclub the group of men engaged them in a dispute again,? said Insp Hunte.

?They received several stab wounds to their bodies and were taken to the nearby Queen Elizabeth hospital where their deaths were confirmed.?

An investigation has been launched into the murder of the brothers, who were both from St Joseph?s parish in Barbados.

No arrests had been made as went to press, and Insp Hunte would not comment on whether the men knew their killers or whether any motive had been established.

A post mortem is due to be carried out this week.

According to the Barbados Crime Survey 2002, it has one of the lowest crime rates of 35 industrialised and developing countries that took part in the International Crime Victimisation Survey.

Royal Barbados Police statistics for 2004 show 660 reports of major crimes against the person including murder, kidnap and robbery ? around seven percent of all crime. The country has a population of approximately 272,000.