A defendant accused of using a machete to slash a man as he lay on a football field was the victim of mistaken identity, a court heard.

Tahir Nesta Bascome said he was not at Wellington Oval when violence erupted during a day of football finals ? and could not be guilty of attempted murder.

Asked by his defence counsel, Ed Bailey, where he was on that notorious day, Bascome said he had been in the Pembroke and Warwick areas ? not in St. George?s.

The 23-year-old, who lives with his grandparents, said that on April 4 last year he woke up at about noon, had a couple of beers before returning a friend?s scooter to Pembroke.

He then told the court that he returned to his neighbourhood at about 6 p.m. and went home.

Mr. Bailey asked his client about three witnesses who placed him at Wellington Oval during the riot. They were the complainant Tarik Foster, student Kimmisha Perinchief and P.c. Bianca Glasford.

Father-of-two Bascome said they must have been mistaken and added that he became aware of events at Wellington Oval a couple of days after they took place, through the media.

Mr. Bailey said the witnesses, who used a video film and photographs to pick out the person they identified as Bascome, said they saw his client wearing a black and white cap.

Asked by Mr. Bailey whether he owned such a hat, Bascome replied: ?I?m not a hat person.?

The defendant said the first time he saw Mr. Foster was when he gave evidence in the trial.

Asked whether he had ever been mistaken for anybody else before, he said he had been confused with a man from Hamilton.

Bascome became the third and final defendant to take the stand in the Wellington Oval retrial yesterday.

Meanwhile, a father-of-two accused of attempted murder at Wellington Oval admitted swinging a knife at the complainant ? but said he never tried to kill.

Jahcai Morris, the second defendant to take to the stand, also told the jury he had no intention of causing serious harm to Tarik Foster.

Charles Richardson, for Morris, asked him: ?Do you admit swinging a knife at Tarik Foster?? The defendant replied: ?Yes, I do.?

Mr. Richardson: ?Were you trying to kill him when you did that?? Morris: ?No.?

Mr. Richardson: ?Were you trying to cause him serious harm when you did that?? Morris: ?No.?

Under cross-examination, Morris denied he went to Wellington Oval armed with a knife and that he and his friends from Ord Road ?launched? an attack on Mr. Foster.

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney said Morris and his friends had attacked Mr. Foster several times, in an attempt to kill. He added that the only reason Mr. Foster was not killed was because he kept moving around on the ground and friends came to his aid.

Morris denied the prosecution claims.

Ki-Roy Kinta Butterfield, 27, of Cherry Hill Park, Paget; Morris, 24, of Sylvan Dell, Paget, and Bascome, 23, of Dunscombe Road, Warwick, all deny attempting to murder Mr. Foster at St. George?s stadium on April 4, 2004.

The trio have also pleaded not guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm against Mr. Foster.

Butterfield has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted wounding with intent to cause GBH against Mr. Trott, possessing an offensive weapon and being armed in public to cause terror.

Morris and Bascome have both denied possessing an offensive weapon and being armed in public to cause terror.

The trial, now in its fourth week, continues.