claimed that the stabbing was an accident.

Ronae Burgess claimed yesterday at his Supreme Court trial, he could not remember stabbing Clarence (Trees) Smith at the Southampton Rangers Sports Club a second time.

"You stabbed him once, pulled the knife out. Then you stabbed him again and pulled the knife out again. You did it -- nobody else was there,'' Crown counsel Mr. Brian Calhoun told him during cross-examination.

Burgess said he was extremely drunk at the time of the stabbing and did not know what he was doing. Earlier in the trial he told the court he consumed 18 beers on a pub crawl with his father prior to the incident.

But Mr. Calhoun said the accuracy with which Burgess recalled how many drinks he consumed, how long he spent at each bar and details of his conversations proved he was not uncontrollably drunk when he stabbed Smith.

Witnesses have described how an argument over pawpaws escalated into a stabbing murder outside the club last February 20.

Burgess admitted telling Smith: "You be here when I get back,'' before returning to the club minutes later with two kitchen knives.

But Smith's sudden appearance at the club door surprised Burgess, causing him to thrust the knife forward.

"I was frightened,'' said Burgess. "I just reacted.'' Smith, who received two, three-inch stab wounds in his abdomen, later died of his injuries.

Burgess' testimony under cross-examination by Mr. Calhoun, was characterised by frequent contradictions and calls for questions to be repeated.

Defence lawyer Mr. Julian Hall accused the Crown of bullying the defendant by repeating questions "ad nauseam''.

"It was a machine gun approach aimed at shooting down my client's intellect,'' he said.

The issue to be decided by the four-man, eight-woman jury today, is whether Burgess intended to kill or grievously harm Smith.

The prosecution claims Burgess deliberately returned to the club to confront Smith.

"A drunken intent is still an intent,'' said Mr. Calhoun. "Burgess could not have acted in self-defence. Clarence Smith never attempted to strike him. He (Burgess) had no grounds for fear,'' he said.

But Mr. Julian Hall defending with Mr. Marc Telemaque, denied there was any evidence to show the accused intended to kill Smith.

"It is possible to cause the most grievous bodily harm without intending to,'' Mr. Hall said.

He added the stabbing erupted out of a bar room brawl, during which Smith threatened to slap Burgess "if he acted bad''.

"He (Burgess) was extremely upset, extremely angry and extremely drunk. His tragic mistake is that he went back. It was a stupid thing to do but it was not murder or manslaughter.'' The Chief Justice, the Hon. Justice Ward will sum up the case before the jury today.