Court Street nightclub Spinning Wheel needs to beef up its security arrangements, according to Progressive Labour Party backbencher Wayne Perinchief.

"Being attacked inside of the establishment puts a greater onus on them at Spinning Wheel to have tighter security inside the establishment... For there to have been a sustained attack on that man was disgraceful," said Mr. Perinchief, a former assistant Commissioner of Police.

The Royal Gazette contacted Mr. Perinchief for his reaction to reports of anti-Jamaican sentiments among locals, in the wake of a violent attack against a young Jamaican patron of the club last week.

He downplayed the claims of anti-Jamaican sentiment, saying in fact the opposite was true.

"In actual fact I believe there's a lot of compatibility rather than the other way round with Jamaicans."

Marvin Murphy, 21, ended up in hospital for two days after a beating in the Spinning Wheel while a crowd watched. Eyewitnesses said anti-Jamaican slurs were heard during and after the attack. The incident infuriated some members of the Jamaican community who later armed themselves with knives and machetes and gathered in the area known as Pear Tree, vowing retribution.

Some members of that group, backed by the Jamaican Association vice president Rowan Ramotar, said that there had been several other attacks on Jamaicans in the area.

But Mr. Perinchief said he believed the Spinning Wheel incident was a "one-off".

"I know there's some tension between the group that hangs around by the Pear Tree... You know the kind of activities some of them are involved in, I mean it's pretty obvious what they are doing there."

When told that they might just be playing dominoes and engaging in other social activities, he said : "Ostensibly they are playing dominoes but that's not what people think. There's more going on there. But I never detected any antagonism towards Jamaicans."

Mr. Perinchief added that he believed that the issue was being "played up for more than it's worth. I don't believe there's any tension here between Bermudians and Jamaicans. I haven't detected this great divide... In fact I have seen a lot of areas where there's compatibility."

In the past, he said, there had been some tension in the Angle Street area because of a feeling that Jamaicans were taking some jobs from Bermudians. But he added that a lot of Jamaicans get employment in areas such as farming - jobs that hold no interest for many Bermudians.

Last year, Mr. Perinchief had opposed plans to look to Jamaica for additional Police officers saying they had a more "hard-line" approach to policing which was inconsistent with Bermuda's community-based approach. He was also quoted as saying at the time that Jamaicans and Bermudians did not mix well together.

Local businessman Murray Brown, who has been organising charter flights to Jamaica since 1974, was dismayed by the more recent reports.

"I feel the need to speak because first of all I am a concerned Bermudian. I went to high school in Jamaica and ... I have been to Jamaica 50 times," he said.

"I would hate to think we're going back to the days of the negativity shown not only to Jamaicans but also West Indians as a whole. We've come a long way and I would hate for that relationship to break down because of an isolated incident."

Mr. Brown added : "When you get right down to it, you have to continue to respect one another."

When asked, he said that allegations of Police inaction in cases of assaults on Jamaicans "certainly needs to be looked at - to see whether there is any truth to it".

The Police have already denied that they treat assaults on Jamaicans differently, pointing to the fact that they arrested a suspect within hours after Mr. Murphy was beaten.

Spinning Wheel management could not be reached for comment.