Bermuda's young criminals are "reaching out for love and understanding" and "most of them can be redeemed," according to Prison Commissioner Edward Lamb.

Speaking amid escalating gun crime which has seen three men shot dead in the past two weeks Lt. Col. Lamb said Bermuda's real battleground "exists right within our homes, in our families and in our neighbourhoods".

He explained: "As for the whole issue of gang violence, and this is my personal view, we are now suffering from the effects of one word: neglect. As a preamble, let me remind all and sundry that these are our sons, grandsons, nephews, godsons, brothers etc, so we all have a vested interest in this issue.

"We have neglected to educate them. We have neglected to teach them and show them real love. We have neglected to train them in appropriate social behaviour. We have neglected to cultivate in them a sense of worth and self-respect. We have neglected to teach them to fear and respect authority including the 'fear' of parents and we have neglected to nurture them in a strong yet tender environment.

"For whatever reason too much TV; not enough time spent with them; too many fathers not involved in the lives of their children; not enough positive influences in the home; children having children; bad behaviour on the part of parents; a failed education system; too much emphasis on the material aspects of life and not enough on the moral worth of a human again, bad examples of this set by so many people from all walks in our village — we now are faced with a crisis of our own making."

Lt. Col. Lamb, who is also a former Commander of the Regiment, continued: "I hear people constantly shouting for harsher laws, tougher sentences and other draconian measures but, allow me to paraphrase an excerpt from Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's 'I have a Dream' speech: 'We must not seek to satisfy our thirst for justice by drinking from the cup of vengeance'.

"This is now everybody's problem and everybody better contribute to the solution. Too many people are adding fuel to this fire by predicting the worst is yet to come and I refuse to associate with those remarks. I prefer to think that 'better must come' and this can happen if people take responsibility for what is going on and if everyone reaches out to these young men.

"From what I have seen within our walls, in spite of their criminality, most of them want to feel connected to the rest of the village. Most of them are reaching out for love and understanding and most of them can be redeemed."

However, Lt. Col. Lamb added: "In the short term, I hope that the Police implement a 'strike and fix' strategy to go after the guns out there, even if that ruffles some feathers."