pulled him off the back of his escape bike, continued in Magistrates' Court yesterday.

George Glenwood Brown, 31, of Stovell Bay Road, has denied attempting to steal a handbag containing a purse, credit cards, and a $100 in cash on May 30 last year, and wilfully and knowingly making a false report to Police.

In December the Court heard from English couple James and Peggy Richardson of Cheshire, England.

Richardson, 56, told the Court how he and his wife were walking along Woodbourne Avenue on May 30 at 11 p.m. when they were accosted.

He said a man on a motorcycle stopped to ask his wife the time, then grabbed her handbag and tried to speed off.

Richardson had just pulled the culprit from the bike when a taxi driver arrived on the scene and called 911 on his radio.

The would-be thief fled on foot.

That taxi driver, Bernard Woods, told the Court yesterday that as he was driving along Woodbourne Avenue he saw Richardson in the middle of the road holding on to a motorcycle.

"I was heading south when I saw a white gentleman holding the back of a cycle and another man trying to get away,'' Woods said.

He added: "I also saw a woman and I got out of the taxi to see what was going on. When I got to the cycle the man and the cyclist fell onto the ground.

"The gentleman told me that the cyclist snatched his wife's purse.'' Woods said that he then went back to his taxi and called 911.

When asked by Brown's lawyer, Mr. Larry Scott, if he got a good look at the culprit, he said: "My taxi lights were still on and they illuminated the cycle. I told Police that if I saw the man again I would recognise him.'' However, the Court also heard Woods was shown a parade of eight to ten men at the Police headquarters in Prospect. When asked to identify the man he had seen on the night of the alleged handbag snatching he did not point out Brown.

W.P.c. Hataya DeSilva told the court that on the morning after the incident Brown called the Police station and informed her that his black Suzuki RC 100 motorcycle had been stolen.

"Brown reported he parked his bike on Front Street on the evening of May 30 and when he returned the next morning it was gone,'' W.P.c. DeSilva said.

W.P.c. DeSilva added that she cross referenced the licence of the stolen bike with the licence of the bike left at the scene of the alleged handbag snatching and found that there was a one letter difference.

Det. Sgt. Franz Williams said because Richardson had received road rash to his body due to the scuffle with the handbag snatcher he asked Brown if he had abrasions to his body.

"I asked Brown to attend the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital to be checked, and Pathologist Dr. Keith Cunningham observed abrasions and scabbing to Brown's right knee and left shin,'' Det. Sgt. Williams said.

Brown wouldn't say how he got his injuries, the officer said.

And when asked if his injuries could be photographed Brown said: "I refuse, I am not going to incriminate myself.'' The trial continues today before Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis.