A witness in a murder trial acknowledged under cross-examination that his police interview after a fatal stabbing in 2022 at Horseshoe Bay had been a “half-truth”.

Jansen Smith also told the Supreme Court that the interview — conducted in St David’s at the home of his friend, Kanye Ford, who died after he was stabbed on September 9, 2022 — had been a “half-lie”.

Eze Hart, 22, has denied murdering 16-year-old Mr Ford that night in the Horseshoe Bay car park.

Charles Richardson, counsel for Mr Hart, accused Mr Smith of deliberately withholding information from the police and courts, such as the use of masks at the gathering.

He put it to Jansen Smith that only in his second interview with police did he mention that he, Mr Ford and their friend, Elijah Smith, had worn ski masks to the beach on the night of the murder.

Mr Richardson said: “You didn’t forget, Jansen, don’t do that. You didn’t forget, you deliberately left it out.”

The witness said: “The reason why I would say I forgot about the ski mask is because I recall them being in use at the time, but not covering our whole faces.”

Mr Richardson responded: “You didn’t forget it. You deliberately left it out.”

The witness agreed that on the night of the murder, he did not inform police at the scene that he and his friends had worn ski masks to the beach.

He also agreed that on September 10, the day after the murder, he did not mention the group being masked to the police in his first of two interviews.

Jansen Smith said: “That second interview was a half-truth and a half-lie.”

He agreed with Mr Richardson that in his witness testimony to police taken from the second interview, he had been questioned why the trio wore ski masks when they rode down to the beach.

The witness explained that the masks did not cover their entire faces and that they could still be identified with them on.

Earlier in the hearing yesterday, the witness told the court that he had gone to Horseshoe Bay in the company of Mr Ford and Elijah Smith to attend a birthday party.

Under cross-examination by Karim Nelson, for the Crown, the witness said the trio had gone to the beach that night on stolen bikes.

Soon after, they checked on the bikes and discovered that one was missing from the parking lot.

He said while at the beach, they met Mr Hart, a woman and another man whose birthday was being celebrated.

The witness said that later in the evening, he was at the entrance of the beach in the company of Mr Ford and Elijah Smith when Mr Hart approached and said someone had stolen a phone.

He said the accused asked the men to empty their pockets, and an argument ensued over the stolen phone.

After the argument subsided, he said another man, called “Dookie”, who was an acquaintance of Mr Hart, rode up to the scene.

He said a fight broke out when Mr Hart struck Mr Ford in the head with a bottle.

He said he then drew a knife that he carried for protection and “Dookie” also produced a blade. They then squared off while waiting on the other to attack.

The witness said while he and Dookie faced each other with blades drawn, he saw Mr Hart, who wore a white shirt, stab Mr Ford with a knife during their tussle.

He said the victim fell to the ground while he was still engaged in the stand-off with Dookie.

The witness added that he and Dookie swung wildly at each other with their blades and he sustained a stab wound to his right arm.

The fight subsided and the witness said he saw Mr Hart ride off with Dookie.

The witness said he and Elijah Smith ran over to Mr Ford, whom they found lying on the ground, bleeding from the left side of his chest.

Mr Ford took off his shirt and the witness said he applied the garment to their friend’s wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood.

He said the injured man slipped out of consciousness but he applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victim, which revived him.

However, he recalled growing worried while his friend Elijah Smith shed tears.

The witness said: “Throughout the time he [the victim] was on the ground, I told him that I loved him.”

The trial continues.

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