A man accused of injuring two people in a high-speed car crash while drunk told Supreme Court his friend was actually behind the wheel at the time.

Theron Williams said he lied in telling Police he was driving to cover for Salih Shawki, who made off from the scene.

The 21-year-old, of Town Hill Road, Smith's, denies causing grievous bodily harm to Sebastiao DeMorais, the driver of the other car involved, by driving over the alcohol limit. He also denies causing actual bodily harm to Mr. DeMorais' passenger Etel DaSilva through dangerous driving.

The trial has heard Williams was taken to Hamilton Police Station after he identified himself at the scene as the driver of a Honda car in collision with Mr. DeMorais' Suzuki. When given an alco-analyser test, the first reading showed he had 116 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, when the legal limit is 80 mg. The second showed 117 mg of alcohol in 100 ml blood.

According to the prosecution case, as outlined by Senior Crown Counsel Carrington Mahoney earlier this week, Williams was at the wheel of the Honda belonging to his mother when it went on to the wrong side of the road and hit the car containing Mr. DeMorais and Mr. DaSilva at high speed on Middle Road, Warwick.

Mr. DeMorais, 55, suffered serious arm injuries and also head injuries in the collision in the early hours of January 30, 2005. Mr. DaSilva, 44, suffered chest injuries.

The prosecution case is that there were two passengers in Williams' car, with the defendant at the wheel at the time. However, taking the witness stand to give evidence in his own defence yesterday, Williams said there were actually four people in his mother's car — himself and his friends Kimario Simons and Jonathan Jones as passengers, with Mr. Shawki at the wheel.

Williams told the court Mr. Shawki left the scene of the collision, and he told Police he was the driver as his first thought was "Salih is my friend" and he thought it in his best interests to do so.

In answer to questions from defence lawyer Leo King, he said his friend's father suffered a major heart attack seven months before the accident, and he and his mother had not had an easy time in recent months.

Williams said he did not at first understand the severity of the situation this placed him in, but later came to hope his friend would "step up to the plate" over the matter. However, he added, his friend did not do so, and never told the Police he was the actual driver of the car.

In his cross-examination of Williams, Mr. Mahoney asked him: "Do you tell lies?" to which he replied "yes, I do".

Williams went on to agree with Mr. Mahoney that he had a lot to drink, including tequila on the night in question, and told the prosecutor he handed the keys for his mother's car to Mr. Shawki because "I believed he could drive. I believed he had the ability to still drive."

He denied a suggestion from Mr. Mahoney that Mr. Shawki was not with the group on the night in question and that he was fabricating evidence.

When the prosecutor put it to him: "You are the person that caused that accident," Williams replied: "No, I was not".

The case continues.