A Supreme Court jury yesterday watched a series of Police interviews detailing the night of Malcolm Augustus’s murder — including those of accused gunman Wolda Gardner.

Mr Gardner, 35, and Patrick Stamp, 30, have been charged with shooting dead Mr Augustus in St George’s on Christmas 2012. Both men maintain their innocence.

As the trial continued yesterday, the jury was shown a witness interview, recorded about two months after the murder.

The witness told officers that he had been with Mr Augustus on the evening of the shooting, saying that the victim had picked him up on his motorcycle and drove him to St George’s.

While travelling along Wellington Back Road, the witness said the men were approached by a man.

Shortly after, two more people approached on a motorcycle and struck the witness with a helmet.

The witness said he and Mr Augustus got off the bike to defend themselves, but fled behind a house after Police arrived in the area.

When the officers left, they heard what sounded like the men attacking the motorcycle, and decided to leave the vehicle, running through yards towards his girlfriend’s home.

As they were walking, he said they were passed by two people on a motorcycle travelling at a high speed. The vehicle then turned around and began to chase the pair.

“They tried to come and attack us,” the witness said. “[Mr Augustus] ran across me and I followed him because he didn’t know where he was going. He ran down the left and jumped into the bamboo. I was right behind him.”

He said they both pushed deeper into the bushes, but were separated.

The witness said he found a wall at the rear of the bamboo patch and, hearing men pushing through the bushes behind him shouting threats, decided to hop over the wall.

The witness said he tried to get Mr Augustus’s attention, shouting his name and trying to reach him on his cell phone, but was unsuccessful.

After about 45 minutes hiding in tall grass, listening to the men threaten to kill him, he ran through a yard and across the main road.

He said he was still there when Police arrived on the scene, although he did not recall hearing any gunshots or seeing the men leave.

As he looked on, he said an ambulance and a fire truck attended the scene.

While he did not see anyone taking Mr Augustus’s body from the bamboo, he said he had suspected that he had been hurt because the ambulance left without using its sirens. The witness also said he had not been able to identify the attackers because of how dark the area was, but that he had heard three or four voices.

The jury was also shown a series of Police interviews with Mr Gardner, who was questioned about the night of the shooting.

In his initial interview, without a lawyer present, Mr Gardner denied any involvement in the murder.

“I didn’t kill nobody,” he told officers. “I don’t understand why my name’s on the television as if I did something. You are jeopardising my family, jeopardising my life, and I have done nothing.”

While he maintained his innocence, he declined to answer questions about his whereabouts that night. Told that witnesses had identified him as the killer, he said it was “impossible”.

Later that afternoon, Mr Gardner was interviewed for a second time with a lawyer present. He told officers that he had spent Christmas Eve at the Royal Artillery Association, cooking turkey. That evening, he walked to a friend’s house but she was not at home.

He left to go to his girlfriend’s house, and while walking near Anchorage Lane he received two phone calls — one from his girlfriend and one from a friend. While talking, he noticed a motorcycle with two men riding towards him.

Mr Gardner told the officers that one of the men called out to him, saying: “Yo, Wolda.” He then saw the pillion passenger reach towards his waistline as if reaching for a firearm.

He said that he ran from the area, stumbling near some bamboo bushes and dropping his cell phone in the process. As he ran, he heard a series of popping sounds.

Mr Gardner said he ran to Fort Albert, and then realised he had lost his phone. He remained at the fort until sunrise, when he walked to his girlfriend’s house and told her about his ordeal.

He told the officers he did not know Mr Augustus and only found out someone had been murdered the next day.

Asked if he had heard any shouting or screaming while in the area, he said he had heard voices but nothing like what the officers described.

He told Police that the cell phone they found at the scene belonged to him, even though it was registered under someone else’s name, and that they may also find women’s jewellery — which he bought as Christmas presents — in the area as he had dropped them.

Asked about the clothing he was wearing on the night of the shooting, he described it to officers but did not say where the clothes were, saying that he would have to get them for the officers.

The trial continues.