A man accused of murdering a 27-year-old outside a sports club told the Supreme Court that while he had a pocket knife with him on the night, he did not stab anyone.

Jahmari Beach, 33, testified that he was attacked by a group of men including the victim, Daunte Woods, during an early morning altercation outside Somerset Cricket Club.

While he claimed that he saw the deceased with a bladed weapon, he accepted in cross-examination that he was the only one seen with a knife in CCTV footage shown over the course of the trial

Mr Beach said he brought the knife out of his pocket because he was scared that Mr Woods had a weapon, but prosecutors said video footage appeared to show him behaving aggressively and following Mr Woods down the club’s steps.

He denied the suggestion, stating that he was just trying to leave the property and he did not put away the knife because he didn’t know who might be in the parking lot.

“I was kind of scared,” he said. “I just had it dangling by my side because I had no reason to use it.”

Mr Beach, 33, has denied charges that he murdered Mr Woods, 27, outside Somerset Cricket Club in Sandys on October 25, 2020, and that he possessed a bladed article in a public place.

The court previously heard that Mr Woods died as a result of a sharp force trauma to his heart and aorta, with the fatal blow travelling through his sternum.

Mr Beach said that on the night of the killing he had attended the Warwick Workmen’s Club and gone home before he was driven by a friend to Somerset Cricket Club.

He said that while in the club, Mr Woods, whom he knew as “D”, repeatedly bumped into him before asking him why he was there.

Mr Beach said Mr Woods later confronted him outside the club and put his hand into his jacket as if to pull out a weapon, which caused him to pull a pocket knife out of his jacket pocket and open it.

However, he accepted that he did not actually see Mr Woods with a weapon at that time.

He told the court that he had forgotten that the knife was in his pocket when he went out, but noticed it was there while he was in the club.

While Mr Beach maintained that the knife had a 2in blade, Adley Duncan, for the Crown, argued that the weapon appeared on CCTV footage from the club parking lot to be larger than he described.

He told the court that he still had the knife in his hand when he was cut off outside the parking lot by a motorcycle and attacked, but he was “sure” he dropped it when he was struck in the head with a helmet.

Mr Beach said he had no idea who struck him with a helmet because it was dark and he was dazed, but it was not the rider of the motorcycle.

“The rider had me pinned to the wall,” he said. “It was someone else who had a helmet.”

He said that after he walked around the motorcycle, he saw Mr Woods charging at him with a bladed object.

“He started to raise it. I had my hands up,” he said. “Someone else was coming at me with a helmet at the same time. I put my hands up. I got hit with the helmet.”

Mr Beach said he remembered two or three people coming at him aggressively, but he could not describe them or their clothing.

“I cannot remember,” he said. “At that point, I am scared. I didn’t see people in the light.”

Mr Beach accepted that during his evidence in chief he had not mentioned seeing anyone with a blade, stating that he had only said he had seen a “flash” and a “reflection”.

“I wouldn’t say I saw it clearly, but I saw it well enough to get out of there,” he said. “That’s what made me run.”

Mr Duncan suggested that Mr Beach did not mention the blade previously because he was making up his story on the spot, which he denied.

Mr Beach, who received treatment for a stab wound after the altercation, said he did not know who stabbed him or when he suffered the injury, but he added: “I don’t think it was D that stabbed me.”

The trial continues and is expected to conclude next week.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers