Bermuda needs measures to hide the identity of witnesses in gun crime cases, according to a top British lawyer.

Jerome Lynch QC believes it's unnecessary for jury members and the public to know the identity of those who testify in such cases, as long as lawyers are satisfied they are reliable.

Currently, witnesses who give evidence or have their statements read out must give their names, addresses, and sometimes their occupations. Police and prosecutors have complained they face reluctance from them to come to court, partly because of that. The problem meant the recent Cervio Cox shooting case in which Mr. Lynch defended Cox over allegations of gang vengeance had many statements read into evidence because witnesses did not wish to attend court.

Mr. Lynch said: "Bermuda's facing this gang violence and this sense of fear pervades for any witness coming forward. This case has been so short because we [the defence] have agreed the evidence can be read. Once we've got that situation, why is it necessary for the name or address or occupation or age to be read out so he's immediately identified? This is a witness that's not contested, it's not necessary. Even when a witness is contested, why does the jury need to be given his name? This is where we would need legislation, the point is it's not necessary for the jury to know the person's name. Even if it does become necessary, they could be shown a list of names of witnesses, they don't need them read out for the media to report."

Mr. Lynch has acted in two high-profile cases in Bermuda in the past year. He successfully defended Devon Hairston, a teenager who went on trial last summer accused of a group attack that left 18-year-old Kellon Hill dead from a stab wound to the heart. Mr. Hairston was cleared by the judge partway through the case, although another defendant, Kellan Lewis, was subsequently convicted of manslaughter.

Mr. Lynch returned to the Island earlier this month to defend 26-year-old Cox during his trial for shooting three men on Court Street last May. Cox was convicted by a jury last week, and jailed for seven years. During the Cox case, prosecutor Robert Welling asked Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves to ban the media from reporting the name of one witness, who had expressed concerns over publicity. Mr. Welling said his department "frequently has witnesses expressing all sorts of concerns".

However, the judge declined to do so, saying publicity must be expected when witnesses give evidence and "citizens of this Country have got to understand that they have a duty to stand up". He went on to remark: "When a person is prepared to stand up then it will motivate the other persons to stand up so I have to be careful how far we go with this and I'm not prepared to go too far."

Mr. Lynch disagreed with that stance, telling this newspaper later: "I don't think it does anything of the sort. What I think is going to happen is what happened two weeks ago when the jury was out deliberating and the witness was shot. That's going to do more to damage relations between witnesses and the Police than the pious hope of the judge."

Mr. Lynch was referring to the shooting of George Lynch, an innocent man killed on May 5 as he visited his friend Philmore Phinn who had just testified in a mob attack trial. It's been widely speculated that Mr. Phinn may have been the real target of the shooting, although the Police have refused to confirm or deny that.

Asked if he felt anonymous witnesses go against the public's right to information about serious cases, lawyer Mr. Lynch replied: "We have to balance that against people not coming forward at all. Of course the public has a right to know, but I'm sure the public's interest in securing the convictions of those guilty of gun crime is greater than them having the right to know the name of a witness in that case.

"There should be safeguards. We [the lawyers] need to know who the witness is. Are they honest? Are they a gang member? But that could be agreed between counsel."

Legislation is already in place in the UK to allow witnesses to give evidence completely anonymously. They can go under a pseudonym, have their voice disguised, be hidden behind a screen or even testify via video link from a remote location.

Mr. Lynch is the head of Charter Chambers in London and often defends clients accused of what he describes as "murder and mayhem" i.e. gang murders and shootings. Some of the UK witness protection measures have been used in those cases and he believes they should be considered for Bermuda, commenting: "These are the ways we try to build confidence between the public and their natural fear of being targeted by gangs, and the Police, whose job is to gather evidence."

Bermuda already has a specialist gang targeting unit, set up late last year to focus full time on that issue. Its supervisor, Sergeant Alex Rollin, was one of the key prosecution witnesses in the Cox trial.

However, Mr. Lynch believes that a specialised combined Police and prosecutions task force would further boost public confidence and help address rocketing gun crime, which has seen eight men murdered in the past year and no one brought to justice.

He believes the Department of Public Prosecutions may be lacking experience in such serious cases, since they are a relatively recent phenomenon in Bermuda. "The real danger here is that people will allow this to spiral out of control. It's almost impossible to then rein it in. Government needs to set up a separate task force with Police officers that can be trusted, and intelligence to be gathered from proper paid informers," he said.

"Once the Police know who's got the guns and who the gang members are then they can act on it. Then we need the best possible prosecutors."

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