A man who shot a teenager in the back during a brawl at a reggae party has been jailed for ten years.

Dwayne Signor, 29, was convicted last month of wounding 18-year-old Shawn Williams and possessing a gun at the Royal Artillery Association Club in St. George's early on Easter Sunday.

Signor, from St. George's, admitted grabbing the firearm during a bar brawl and pulling the trigger on Mr. Williams, causing serious injuries that required surgery.

He told the jury during his nine-day Supreme Court trial that it was an accident, while acting in a panic.

Jailing him for the mandatory minimum period of ten years yesterday, Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons said: "The prevalence of gun possession and use of guns in Bermuda is at an all-time high and has greatly concerned residents of this small territory.

"There's a great need for a message to be made loud and clear that possession of a gun will not be tolerated and must be deterred by a lengthy sentence."

Addressing the court during the sentencing hearing, Crown counsel Nicole Smith pointed out that Signor is not a man of previous good character.

He was jailed for three months last September for taking part in a riot at the end of Cup Match that July at St. George's Cricket Club.

Last December, he was imprisoned for a further three months for violently resisting arrest and obstructing Police in April 2009. He'd previously been convicted of uttering threatening words and assaulting a Police officer in 2004.

Signor, an unmarried father-of-one, was released from prison on January 6 this year. He took up a job as a bar porter at Club Ovation nightclub in St. George's. Less than three months later, he was involved in the shooting at the R.A.A. Club in Grenadier Lane.

He told the jury during his trial that he grabbed the gun because it was being pointed at his knees during a bar fight, and pulled the trigger in a panic after four shadowy figures pursued him into a darkened room.

He ran off after the shooting and jumped in the sea, although he denied this was to wash off gunshot residue. He told the jury he handed the weapon over to a friend, Ronnie Furbert, and does not know where it is now.

Another man, Khyri Smith-Williams, 19, from Sandys, went on trial alongside Signor, accused of bringing the gun to the club. The jury cleared him of that charge, meaning it remains unclear who did bring the gun into the party and how they got it past security checks.

The jury also cleared Signor of more serious charges of attempted murder and shooting with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Ms Smith noted during her sentencing submissions: "Gun violence and gun-related criminal activity is on the rise in Bermuda and indeed is above the critical level."

She therefore asked the judge to send a "stern message" by imposing a sentence in the range of ten to 15 years.

Defence lawyer Marc Daniels pointed out that Signor was, by his own admission, "highly intoxicated" that night and never meant to shoot anyone.

"He was confronted with a situation he never expected to deal with," noted Mr. Daniels.

He said Mr. Williams was not someone previously known to Signor and "this is not some sort of violence or aggression directed towards individuals as a result of some previous history".

He added that Signor is remorseful, and a pre-sentence report deemed him to pose a low risk of reoffending.

Meting out ten years' imprisonment for gun possession, plus three years to run concurrently for wounding, Mrs. Justice Simmons told Signor: "The community needs protecting from you in terms of your impulsivity and the record that you have for violent conduct."

She added: "The court finds that you paid reckless disregard to the safety of others that night by grabbing the gun."

Ten years was the mandatory minimum sentence for possessing a firearm at the time the crime was committed. The sentence was increased to a minimum 12 years by Parliament this July in a bid to crack down on gun crime.