A key witness who helped bring a gunman to justice said he does not regret “doing the right thing,” but his life has been turned upside down as a result.Michael Parsons, 32, gave crucial evidence leading to the conviction of 42 gang member David Cox for the murder of Raymond (Yankee) Rawlins. Police praised him for his bravery after Cox was convicted by a jury and locked up for 38 years.Speaking publicly for the first time since the high profile trial this summer, Mr Parsons said: “I don’t regret what I have done; I would have done it for anyone in Bermuda, young or old.”However, he left Bermuda amid concerns that he might encounter problems due to the court case, and he has been unemployed since.“I was a working person, I had a life and I have kind of had to give up my life to at least do something most Bermudians turn a blind eye to,” he told The Royal Gazette.During Cox’s trial, Mr Parsons described himself as a long-term friend both of Cox and of the victim Mr Rawlins, who was a father-of-ten. He told the jury he had known Mr Cox since childhood, as they grew up in the St Monica’s Road area of Pembroke dubbed “42nd Street”. His own father and Mr Cox’s late father were good friends and he also knows Mr Cox’s mother because he played for the Bermuda Hogges with her other son, Darius.Mr Rawlins was walking into Mr Parsons’ 31st birthday party at the Spinning Wheel nightclub on Court Street when Cox and an accomplice burst in and gunned him down on August 9, 2010. Police believed Cox targeted Mr Rawlins due to his associations with rival gangs.Mr Parsons was just feet away when Mr Rawlins was murdered, and although Cox was wearing a rain jacket with the hood pulled down to cover his face, he recognised him by his eyes.“I’ve known him long enough to know him. It’s a way he sometimes squinches up his eyes. That’s who I saw,” he told the jury.He said of the murder: “I never expected it. I would never want that to happen to anybody,” and “that memory will never leave me”.Mr Parsons said he wouldn’t wish jail on anyone but feels he did the right thing in testifying against Cox. Asked if he considered himself a brave person for facing him in court, he replied: “It’s not a big thing. I saw him and now he’s convicted. You have to face fear with fear sometimes. Bermuda is so small and I get vexed when so many of us allow a handful of individuals to dictate how our lives are going to be. Sometimes you have to just stamp your foot. For me it wasn’t about courage; I had to tell what I saw.”He added: “Here is a quote that I believe in, ‘To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men’.”Prior to the shooting, he had challenges in his life, including spending his younger years in care homes. He admits that he used to steal bikes and sell drugs. He also grew up with many of the men from the 42 area who have lost their lives to gun violence.“I kind of get upset a lot when you see all the stuff that’s been going on [in Bermuda]. Most people say ‘blame it on education or teachers’ whereas to me there’s more to it. It’s no excuse. I was once in their shoes. I’m not afraid to admit I sold drugs, I used to be on Court Street. It takes you to look in the mirror and change,” said Mr Parsons.According to him, the change in his own life came in 2006 when he stood trial at Supreme Court on cocaine-handling charges, but was cleared. He’d been playing football for the Bermuda Hogges before the drugs case, but the allegations resulted in him being dropped from the team because he was unable to travel.“When I was found not guilty I switched around my life. I was playing for the national football team in St Kitts, St Vincent and in Barbados. I went to Chelsea and Fulham (in London) to train with the national team. I had just started working at the Sunshine League, as since the age of seven I grew up in three different homes,” explained Mr Parsons.He spent a spell working in construction, got his own apartment, and says he was about to start work as a manager at a hotel when the Rawlins murder turned his life upside down once again and caused him to leave Bermuda.Although he stressed that he was never looking for a reward for what he did, he has found it tough losing his job prospects and comfortable lifestyle.“I have got nothing. They got what they wanted; they got a conviction. So many things in my life I gave up to do something good and I feel like I have lost so much. People who come forward have to know what they are getting involved in,” said Mr Parsons, although he stressed that “I don’t want to change people’s minds about coming forward”.Since leaving Bermuda he’s occupied his days going to the gym and playing football. He is also proud to be working on a book about his life, which he hopes will be inspiring to others (see sidebar.)“I would like to go to schools to tell my story and hopefully some children will relate to it,” he said. “It’s a 60-page book on my life experiences and how I have overcome many obstacles.”