Lawyers defending the Wellington Oval accused have urged the jury to clear them of attempted murder.

Ki-Roy Kinta Butterfield, Jahcai Morris and Tahir Nesta Bascome all deny trying to kill Tarik Foster when violence scarred a football match at St. George?s. In closing speeches to the retrial jury of nine women and three men yesterday, counsel for the trio dismissed prosecution claims their clients had ?murder in their hearts? at Wellington Oval.

Elizabeth Christopher, for Butterfield, said he acted as a ?defender? when trouble flared at the stadium.

Concluding a closing speech, she said Butterfield was a ?responsible family man? who went to St. George?s with his girlfriend and son, before playing for Paget Lions in the first match at the Friendship Trophy event.

Ms Christopher said Butterfield became involved when he heard a crack and saw his brother had been struck by a man armed with a piece of wood.

Fearing his brother was ?basically dead?, Ms Christopher said Butterfield found a knife where an earlier scuffle had taken place. She said the defendant then put the knife down beside his injured brother, before attempting to disarm the man with the wooden board.

Miss Christopher said there was not a single frame of a video shot by a spectator at Wellington Oval that showed a knife in her client?s hand. And she added that only one witness ? whose reliability she questioned ? says he saw Butterfield with a knife before his brother was hit. She said if Butterfield had ?murder in his heart? the man with the wooden board, Everest Trott, would not have escaped uninjured.

Pointing to evidence of police officers, who said they did not intervene at Wellington Oval because they feared for their lives, she said her client had no choice but to intervene to help defend his brother. ?In that 90 seconds he did what he thought he had to do. I do not think he should be punished for that.?

She added: ?Keep a very, very close eye on the evidence in this case, and if you look at it closely you will acquit my client.?

Charles Richardson, for Morris, said there was no direct evidence his client tried to kill, or wound anybody. He told the jury there was evidence Morris swung a knife at Mr. Foster, but there was no proof any injuries resulted.

Mr. Richardson, who said there were ?glaring inconsistencies? in accounts of prosecution witnesses, said the defendant turned his knife sideways and used the blunt side of his machete. He added that the aim was to frighten ? not kill or seriously injure.

Mr. Richardson said his client?s case in a ?nutshell? was: ?Yes, I swung at Mr. Foster. Yes, I tried to hurt him, but I did not wound him.?

Attacking Mr. Foster?s evidence, he reminded the jury the complainant picked out three volunteers, and not Morris, at a police identification parade.

Continued Mr. Richardson. ?Nobody wanted to kill anyone that day. It?s a fanciful suggestion. Fanciful at best.?

Ed Bailey, for Bascome, insisted the defendant was a victim of mistaken identity.

He questioned the ability of the three witnesses who said Bascome was at Wellington Oval and said they had failed to pick out any of his distinguishing features, such as tattoos or some missing fingertips.

And he listed a number of ?main players? in the case, including two senior police officers at the stadium last April, who never identified his client being there.

Criticising the police investigation, he asked why Bascome?s house was not searched for forensic evidence such as clothing or a weapon.

And he also asked why an identity parade was never held for the defendant, and why Bascome was arrested six weeks after the event.

?The evidence is not there to make a positive identification,? Mr. Bailey told the jury, who said it was common for people to be misidentified.

All three lawyers also urged the jury to cast aside any feelings they may have about violence in Bermuda ? and focus on the evidence in this high-profile case.

Butterfield, 27, of Cherry Hill Park, Paget; Morris, 24, of Sylvan Dell, Paget, and Tahir Nesta Bascome, 23, of Dunscombe Road, Warwick, all deny attempting to murder Mr. Foster on April 4, 2004.

The trio also pleaded not guilty to a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, also 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 both denied possessing an offensive weapon and being armed in public to cause terror.

The trial, which has just entered its fifth week, continues.