The man who tried to save the life of Chena Trott yesterday told a Supreme Court jury how the vicious attack left the young mother of three beaten and covered with blood.

Eyewitnesses also told yesterday how George (Messy) MacDonald Liburd ? the man charged with murdering Ms Trott in August, 2002 outside the Crawl Esso Tigermart station at Crawl Hill ? fought them off as they tried to save the woman.

Liburd, whose case has been repeatedly adjourned over the last three years, has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. Defence lawyers must prove Liburd was suffering from an abnormality of the mind which impaired his mental responsibility at the time of the killing.

Prosecution lawyers do not accept the plea and earlier this week Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney told the five-man, seven-woman jury: ?Ms Trott?s death was caused by voluntary deliberate conduct of the accused and was not by accident.? The court also heard chilling testimony that Liburd told Police after the killing: ?I used a knife to kill her, that girl is a f***ing bitch, I?d do it again. When I loved we loved deep, that girl played a f***ing game on me, I?d f***ing do it again?.

Yesterday, the jury heard of how Liburd brutally beat and stabbed Trott several times and then left her to die on the pavement outside the gas station.

Eyewitness David Myron Brangman said he went to the Crawl Tigermart that day with his wife to pick up some items for the weekend.

He finished his errand and then came out to his car where he heard a commotion.

He saw a young lady slumped over at the back wheel of a car parked towards the rear of the Tigermart. A young man then came from around the car and appeared to be pulling something out of his hip which was covered in a white material.

Mr. Brangman added: ?I went closer, he took a swipe at me, I was with some young girls and I told them to get away from him and to go inside. I saw there was a knife in his hand, I backed off and he took the same knife and drove it in. I froze. I noticed a denim bag on the ground so I took it and tried to swing it, I felt it was the only thing I could do after sitting watching someone being stabbed.?

Mr. Brangman, who never left Ms Trott?s side, said Liburd ran off the premises of the service station with the knife still in his hand. Mr. Brangman tried to stop her bleeding with a sheet from his car.

?The young lady was lying on the ground. Her face severely beaten, her teeth were broken off and blood poured out of her mouth, her face was all marked up. Her eyes were closed, there was blood on her mid-section.?

Mr. Brangman said he called an ambulance and received instructions on what to do in their attempts to save Ms Trott?s life.

?My wife got a sheet from the car and we used towels to put under her head. We tried to lay her out and make her comfortable.? Ms Trott lay motionless as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. ?She never said anything, she stared straight ahead at me without blinking,? said Mr. Brangman.

The court also heard evidence from Cyril Woods, a friend of Liburd?s, who said he gave Liburd a lift to the gas station that day. Liburd was looking for Ms Trott because he claimed he had some items to pick up from her. However, Liburd, who had a protection order served against him by Ms Trott two days before she died, was not to have any contact with the victim.

As he waited in the car, Mr. Woods saw Liburd go into the gas station and talk to Ms Trott. A few minutes later Liburd and Ms Trott walked around the rear of the gas station. He went to check on the two after noticing a woman walk toward his car with a look of shock on her face.

He saw Ms Trott hunched over on the ground crying while Liburd grabbed her and made a punching motion towards her waist. ?I tried to separate the two and put myself between her and Messy (Liburd) but he came toward me with rage in his face. Messy pushed me to the ground, I told him to leave her alone.?

During questioning by Liburd?s lawyer ? Queen?s Counsel John Perry ? Mr. Woods said Liburd appeared to be in a normal state of mind during the drive to the service station. He also agreed that the attack came as a complete shock.

The court also heard evidence from Dr. Phillip Jones, a specialist in emergency medicine, who attended to Ms Trott at the hospital. Dr. Jones said she had ?multiple stab wounds? in her back and chest and a weak pulse.

Doctors tried to save her life, but she suffered from a huge blood loss.

The trial continues today before Puisne Judge Charles Etta Simmons.