Murder-accused Kellan Lewis's mother interfered in the case in a bid to help him escape conviction over Kellon Hill's death, a prosecutor suggested yesterday.

Rory Field suggested that rather than letting justice take its course, Lewis's mother Jan Martin, a former Police officer, rang contacts in the force to get information in the hours after the killing.

Lewis denies murdering Mr. Hill, 18, and possessing a knife in public. The victim was stabbed to death as he left a party at Elbow Beach late on August 9 2008, after being set upon by a group of teenagers.

In his closing speech to the jury yesterday Mr. Field pointed out how Lewis, 18, sent a text message to his friend Zharrin Simmons in the early hours of August 10, 2008. In it, he told Simmons, 18, there was word from his mother's "ace girl on the force" that the Police were "looking for everyone".

Simmons is also alleged to have been involved in the fatal fight.

Mr. Field suggested: "The only way that information can come is his mother, in the early hours of the morning, has been in contact with her contacts in the Police force to find out what's going on.

"What's the other explanation? His mother, who was in the Police herself, has contacted her friend and found out internal confidential Police information, passed it on to her son who's now passed it on to Zharrin. Well, what does that tell you about the mother's role in this?"

Mr. Field also suggested Ms Martin played a role in getting a defence witness to suggest that a key prosecution witness lied about seeing Lewis stab Mr. Hill repeatedly with a knife.

John DeShields claimed the 16-year-old girl, who The Royal Gazette is not identifying due to her age, told him soon after the incident that she hadn't seen anything. She told a previous trial in the case, last June, and the current trial, last month, that she saw Lewis stab Mr. Hill.

However, Mr. DeShields admitted that he only came forward to cite concerns over the girl's evidence earlier this month. He also admitted he's had multiple conversations with Ms Martin about the case.

Mr. DeShields denied allegations from prosecutors that Ms Martin persuaded him to come and testify on behalf of her son. But Mr. Field raised the topic again yesterday, telling the jury: "If Mr. DeShields has come to perjure himself, who's put him up to that? And does that line run back to the mother? Does it run back to the defendant?"

He also suggested another witness for the defence, Kelvin Warner, may also have been encouraged to testify against the prosecution case. He is an employee of horse and carriage operator Mr. DeShields, and the brother of one of the youths implicated in the case.

"This is extremely suspicious stuff. Is he being put up to it by the defendant's family? Unfortunately this sort of thing happens when you get into a murder trial. There are serious stakes," said Mr. Field.

"People will go a long way to try to make sure that the truth doesn't come before the court. It's totally a matter for you."

As for Lewis himself, Mr. Field said of his own evidence in the case: "He was really telling you a lot of lies from the witness box. Why is he lying? Because he doesn't want to be convicted. Because he killed somebody, and he doesn't want to pay for it. He wants to get off scot-free."

According to prosecutors, Lewis and his friends Simmons, Gary Hollis, 18, Kevin Warner, 20, and Devon Hairston were all involved in the fight that led to Mr. Hill's death. The 18-year-old college student suffered a fatal knife wound to the heart, which the Crown say was inflicted by Lewis.

It's also been alleged that Hollis used a helmet against Mr. Hill, Simmons stabbed him with a screwdriver, and Warner hit him in the head with a walking cane so hard that it broke. Lewis admitted during his evidence that he was involved in a fight with Mr. Hill, but denied stabbing him.

The case continues.