A man accused of a vicious assault told a jury of how he had been given the nickname ‘Stalker' by the ex-lover he is accused of viciously beating.

But Lloyd Hilton Smith denied constantly following Nicole Lambert around although he claimed he saw her three times a day and gave her money.

Smith also said he planned to make love to her at the same spot he claimed to have discovered her after her beating.

Smith, 53, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Nicole Lambert, depriving her of her freedom and to being in possession of an offensive weapon, namely a pipe, in the early hours of March 1 of last year in Turtle Bay Crescent, Southampton.

However, he admitted washing his clothes within hours of the alleged attack.

He denied being jealous of Ms Lambert, whom he said was a prostitute with a number of male friends.

The court heard of how he had taken a $60 million lawsuit out against Transport Minister Ewart Brown and others in Government the year before the attack.

Smith claimed Lambert had boasted that she knew Dr. Brown.

Crown counsel Anthony Blackman asked why Smith had claimed that Progressive Labour Party people were trying to frame him for the attack.

Smith denied doing so but the court heard a statement given to Police in which Smith made that claim.

He then told the court: “I said that because I didn't want to be interviewed anyhow.

“I knew that was going to happen. I said anything. I knew I was innocent.”

Smith said he loved Lambert, who he said was a drug-using prostitute who entertained clients at her home in Middle Road, Southampton.

Three weeks prior to the assault he said Lambert had paged him and then slapped and spat at him when he turned up.

He said he first picked up Lambert before 10 p.m. on February 28 near her house but quickly returned her after they were spotted by her housemates who didn't like him and had banned him from their home two years earlier.

He said Ms Lambert then paged him at around 1 a.m. to pick her up near the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Middle Road, Southampton.

Smith said she did not ask for any particular location and he drove to Barnes Corner and towards Turtle Bay Crescent where the pair often went to have sex.

He said another car followed and Ms Lambert demanded to be let out so he let her out near Cheese Ray's house.

He said a vehicle had followed at high speed and he saw it put on its brake lights as he headed eastwards on South Shore Road.

“I assumed the vehicle picked up Nicole, I continued.”

Asked how he could see the brake lights when both cars were going in the same direction Mr. Smith said: “I saw them through the side mirror.”

Smith said he later returned to the Turtle Bay area and saw Ms. Lambert lying on the ground in the foetal position.

He wept as he told the court he found something shiny, which he later said was blood, on her head above her ear.

He told the court: “When she was conscious I was there, she's saying it was me. I put it to the court she could very well know the assailant. We don't know what she knows. We only know she's called my name.”

He demonstrated that it was possible not to see the attacker if he held her head down.

“She maybe thinks I am a ninja. There's the likelihood she didn't see the person, she said she was dragged along the ground.

“I have been locked up for ten months. I have run this through my mind.”

After lifting her into the taxi, Smith said she wanted to be taken home but then complained of thirst and he got her a soda from a machine near Five Star Island.

He then cleaned her face with a cloth dipped in sea water from Jew's Bay as she sat in the cab. Smith said he decided to take her to the deserted Keeper's Cottage nearby where they both slept until she woke up thirsty and he drove to Warwick Gas station for more drink and he then dropped her off home which he quickly departed after she told him to go.

He said he asked her: “What? You are going to tell them you were in a car accident?”

The defendant said he asked it out of curiosity. “She was a person who could tell a good story.”

He denied he had told Ms. Lambert to make up a story about an accident because he had attacked her.

Smith said he rode past her house again to make sure she was all right.

“I intended to go back to the scene to see if I could find anything that could indicate who could have possibly done this but I realised I am not a detective or a Policeman.”

So instead Smith said he drove to Warwick Long Bay where he walked in the water before driving to a Devonshire laundromat where he washed his clothes.

It was here Smith claimed he picked up cuts on his hands by scraping his hands on the road as he washed his taxi.

Under cross-examination from Mr. Blackman Smith denied going to Warwick Long Bay to dispose of the weapon.

He said he had known Ms. Lambert for eight years and that she and her friend called him ‘Stalker' but said he wasn't constantly following her. He said: “I am a taxi driver, for God's sake.”

Smith admitted losing a watch and ring that night but denied losing them while beating Ms Lambert with a pipe.

Asked when he first realised Nicole was badly injured Smith said: “I don't know if I ever realised Nicole was badly injured.”

Ms Lambert suffered a leg break, face and head injuries and claimed earlier in the trial that Smith was to blame.

Smith told the court yesterday that he did not ask Ms Lambert if she was in pain and said it was because she was stubborn and hard-headed and had discouraged previous conversations when she had “been in accidents.”

The case, in front of seven-woman, five-man jury continues today.