A teenager accused of killing two homeless men may have done so to prove himself as "a hard guy" in the criminal fraternity, a prosecutor suggested yesterday.

Rory Field pointed out that Darronte Dill was described to Police as a "foot soldier" by fellow suspect Roger Lightbourne Sr., who described himself as "the general".

Mr. Lightbourne Sr. allegedly told detectives that as such, Dill "had to kill to prove himself, in order to be accepted". According to prosecutors, both men are members of the Parkside gang.

Dill, 19, claims Mr. Lightbourne Sr., 42 described by the prosecutor as a "hardened criminal" is the true culprit behind the murders of Maxwell Brangman and Frederick Gilbert.

But Mr. Field, the Director of Public Prosecutions, dismissed that during his closing speech in the case yesterday. He said of Dill: "He's the new boy on the block and he's got something to prove. This kind of murder is not something you would expect from someone who's been a professional criminal. This is something that's the mad rash act of a much younger person.

"Now, I'm not suggesting that in order to be considered more senior, or to prove yourself among the criminals in this society, that it's necessary to actually kill somebody. At least I certainly hope not.

"But we do know there are societies in the world where people have to do terrible things to prove themselves. Maybe he didn't have to kill, but it doesn't seem beyond logic that it was a good thing to prove himself to be a hard guy to prove himself in the criminal fraternity to do such an act."

Mr. Brangman, 57, and his friend Frederick Gilbert, 53, were stabbed and stoned to death as they slept in a shed in St. David's in the early hours of September 21, 2008.

During the investigation, Dill was caught on tape admitting to the killings on two separate occasions. The first was in a conversation with Mr. Lightbourne Sr. in the Police cells after they'd both been arrested. Undercover detectives were hiding nearby.

The conversation was initiated by Mr. Lightbourne Sr., who'd offered to set up the sting operation. Dill told him he carried out the murders along with his son, Roger Lightbourne Jr.

The Police interviewed Dill on tape the following day and told him they knew about his cell confession. He then repeated it to them but refused to name his accomplice. He said he committed the crime because he was feeling "mad" and "I wanted to know what it was like to take a life".

However, when he took the witness stand to give evidence in his own defence last week, Dill claimed Mr. Lightbourne Sr. whose St. David's home he was staying at on the night of the double killing confessed to him that he carried out the crime. He claimed he made the "false" admissions about being the culprit himself because Mr. Lightbourne Sr. told him to take the rap and he was scared of him.

However, Mr. Field yesterday urged the jury to accept the original admissions of guilt made by Dill as true as demonstrated by key details matching the crime scene. Dill noted that he'd stabbed Frederick Gilbert, who he referred to as "the black guy" 12 times. A pathologist has given evidence to the trial that Mr. Gilbert actually suffered 13 stab wounds.

Dill also told the Police how he used a history book featuring Hitler and the Nazi party to set fire to Mr. Brangman's body. Scene investigators found just such a book resting on the victim's burned corpse.

Dill spoke of using the camera on his cell phone to video the burning crime scene. Mr. Brangman's blood was found on his cell phone by investigators.

Mr. Field said the notion that Mr. Lightbourne Sr. had confessed was "a complete load of lies" made up by Dill. The prosecutor also dismissed the idea that Dill is truly scared of Mr. Lightbourne Sr., who he admits was a mentor to him.

"He didn't seem like an afraid sort of guy, a nervous sort of guy. You might think he seemed quite cocky actually, quite confident and tough," he said of Dill's time on the witness stand.

The case continues.