Parliament Street swarmed with armed Police officers yesterday following the issuing of a direct threat to disrupt proceedings in a trial in Magistrates? Court.

In an official statement to the assembled media, Police public relations officer Dwayne Caines declined to comment on the threat?s specific nature, but insisted it was profound and warranted drastic action.

The heaviest Police presence was outside of court number three, where Jevon Earnest Gardner?s trial for assault with intent to cause bodily harm and the possession of a prohibited weapon began at 10 a.m.counted a total of 15 uniformed officers outside the courts on the corner of Parliament and Reid Streets area and on the roof of Hamilton Police Station.

It is understood a number of undercover officers were also in circulation throughout the morning.

Certain sections of Parliament Street were cordoned off and access to the Magistrates? building was periodically restricted.

?The extra security deployed at Magistrates? Court was a direct result of specific threat information reaching the Bermuda Police Service,? a Police press statement released yesterday afternoon said.

?Following an assessment of that threat, it was deemed necessary and appropriate to deploy armed personnel so as to reduce the risk that proceedings within Magistrates? Court would be compromised and to ensure the safety of Police, members of the public and those employed in the Courts.

?The deployment was done after consultation with the Senior Magistrate (Archibald Warner).

?The Bermuda Police Service would like to thank the members of the public for understanding that extra security measures are sometimes necessary to ensure the peaceful administration of justice.?

Six witnesses were called by Crown counsel Paula Tyndale, all of whom were heavily guarded in the foyer outside the court.

The trial was adjourned shortly after 1 p.m. and the defendants? bail extended ? although he was led back to Hamilton Police station in handcuffs immediately after the proceedings concluded.

Mr. Caines confirmed the man had been arrested in relation to ?another matter?, but refused to divulge the details.

During the trial, it was alleged that in the early hours of September 25, Gardner, a Works and Engineering employee, of 27 Crossfield Lane, Sandys, drove into the car park at the foot of King Street on Front Street, and following a prolonged altercation, zapped two people with a 500,000 volt Black Panther stun gun.

According to Crown witness Sharrieff Wales, a bouncer at Hog Penny bar and restaurant, Gardner had earlier been drinking heavily in Oasis nightclub, and was ?severely drunk? by the time he entered the car park.

Mr. Wales said he had unsuccessfully attempted to wrest the weapon out of Gardner?s hand, while he saw the accused move away from the crowd and drop the stun gun behind a car as Police arrived on the scene.

One of the alleged victims of the attack, who Mr. Warner asked the media not to name because of apparent ?security concerns?, described being zapped twice by Gardner on the right side of his back, saying: ?I felt like Belco.?

?There was a tingling sensation running through my whole body and when I got up from the ground I felt dazed and completely out of it.?

During interviews with Police, Gardner maintained he was ?heavily intoxicated? following a night of partying and had absolutely no memory of the incident.

?I am as much in the dark as you guys are,? he said in an interview transcript read out to the court.

Gardner is being represented by Victoria Pearman, who will begin to make the case for the defence when the trial resumes on February 10.