A witness has denied having drug accused Luke Hill fill out a series of address labels on his behalf.

Mr Hill, 47, from Hamilton Parish, has denied conspiring to import almost 80 grams of diamorphine, better known as heroin, to the Island.

The Supreme Court heard on Tuesday that such a quantity of drugs could fetch more than $230,000 if sold on the streets of Bermuda in 3 milligram “decks”.

Prosecutors claim the drugs were hidden in ten small packages, and that the handwriting on the labels was linked to Mr Hill.

He has also denied two money laundering charges, in which he allegedly used the bank accounts of others to exchange Bermudian cash for US currency.

John Thompson told the court yesterday that he knew Mr Hill through his work as a self-employed maintenance man, and said the accused had in the past hired him for various jobs.

He told the court that on August 16, 2009, he flew to Nigeria via London and, while there, he was given a set of china bowls. Mr Thompson told the court that he returned to London with them, but gave them to a woman. On December 28, 2010, he made a second trip to Africa via London, this time visiting South Africa.

While there, he told the court he bought a pair of books, but accidentally left one on the plane and the second at his London hotel.

He initially said he did not meet anyone from Bermuda during either trip, but after questioning he accepted that he had met Mr Hill in London.

Asked about who bought the tickets, he said he did not know, claiming he received a phone call from a woman telling him that tickets had been purchased in his name and all he needed to do was go to the airport with his packages.

When prosecutor Alan Richards asked him why tickets were bought for him, he said: “I’m in fear of reprisal. I’m looking out for myself and my family. It’s why I’m a bit skittish.”

Mr Richards made a series of suggestions regarding the trips, including that he had told Police in an interview that Mr Hill had bought the tickets and had driven him to the airport.

The prosecutor also suggested he told officers that he believed the china had false bottoms and that he had seen someone hiding heroin within the books. Mr Thompson responded that the suggestions were “possible” and repeated, “if you say so.”

Under cross examination by defence lawyer Marc Daniels, Mr Thompson admitted that he had “stretched the truth in spots” during stages of the investigation, and that he had been arrested and charged in connection to the incident.

Mr Daniels suggested that while Mr Thompson was in London in January of 2011, he called Mr Hill about money that he was owed.

“Mr Hill told you that he was actually travelling to the UK and would be willing to meet with you in the UK,” Mr Daniels said. “You told Mr Hill that you needed the money straight away.” Mr Thompson said it was possible, and agreed that he subsequently received $1,000 from Mr Hill via Western Union. He accepted that he later met Mr Hill in a London pub, but repeatedly denied the suggestion that he asked Mr Hill to write names and addresses on a series of envelopes while in the pub.

“I didn’t give him no addresses to put on no papers,” he said. “I could have filled them out myself if there were any papers that needed to be filled out.”

He also denied the suggestion that he was using Mr Hill as a decoy.

“I don’t know what he done,” he said. “I didn’t put him in the predicament he is in.”

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case.