A man accused of killing a teenager at Horseshoe Bay told a court that although he fought with the victim, he did not stab him.

Eze Hart admitted that he struck Kanye Ford with a bottle and the two subsequently traded blows, but he told the Supreme Court yesterday that he did not have a knife at any point during the evening.

While he said the fight stemmed from an argument over someone allegedly stealing a stolen bike, Karim Nelson, for the Crown, said Mr Hart had not mentioned a stolen bike in either of his two defence statements.

Mr Hart also denied, when it was put to him, that he had embellished his story to make the deceased and his friends the aggressors.

“They were the aggressors that night,” Mr Hart responded. “They were the only ones with knives.”

Mr Hart, 22, has denied charges that he murdered Mr Ford, 16, during an altercation on the evening of September 9, 2022.

Mr Hart told the jury that he had gone to Horseshoe Bay that evening for a friend’s going-away party and helped to set up a tent and table.

He said that while he and others were enjoying themselves on the beach, he noticed three men with ski masks over their heads standing near a “little sand mountain”.

Mr Hart said that some of the attendees became nervous and asked the host to find out who the men were and that he went with him.

“We pretty much asked them to take the ski masks off because everyone was uncomfortable,” he said. “They were pretty much saying they weren’t doing anything wrong, they just had ski masks on.

“Then Kanye took his off and asked everyone else to take theirs off.

“Jansen Smith took his off. Elijah Smith was saying he wasn’t feeling like taking his off, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

Mr Hart said that the party continued and Mr Ford, Elijah Smith and Jansen Smith later walked towards the parking lot area.

Eventually, he said, the party moved off the beach and to an area near the bathrooms with people continuing to talk and drink.

He said that at some point, he saw Mr Ford, Elijah Smith and Jansen Smith asking about someone taking a “dolo”, which he said was slang for a stolen motorcycle.

“Jansen pulled out his knife and was waving it around saying he needs the bike back,” Mr Hart said. “Kanye was saying the same thing. They were piggybacking off each other.”

He said the host later began to ask people about a stolen phone, but another attendee calmed the situation down.

Mr Hart said that while he and others began to walk back towards the bathroom area, Mr Ford was arguing with a female attendee about the stolen bike.

“I saw Kanye push her and [he] grabbed her back and pushed her again,” Mr Hart said.

“When I saw that I ran up to them. I had a Hennessy bottle in my hand. I hit Kanye with it in the back of his head, close to his neck.”

Mr Hart said that he was not angry at the time, but upset by Mr Ford’s actions.

He told the court that it was not a hard strike, stating he lost his grip on the bottle and it slipped out of his hand, but Mr Ford turned around and the two began to fight.

Mr Hart said in the midst of the fight he slipped on the edge of the pavement and fell to the ground, with Mr Ford going on top of him and punching him.

He said that he had his arms up with one hand protecting his face and the second one protecting his head from hitting the ground.

Eventually, Mr Hart said he felt someone lifting Mr Ford off him and then he was dragged to his feet as well.

“I had blood all on the front of my shirt,” he said. “They thought I had got stabbed. I didn’t know what to think. I was confused.”

Mr Hart said when he looked at Mr Ford he was on his feet, but stumbling.

“He got back up on his feet and tried to take another step and that’s when he ended up falling,” he said.

He told the court that he tried to approach Mr Ford to see if he was all right, but was told to leave him alone.

Mr Hart said he got on a bike and rode to the bike owner’s house in the Camp Hill area, where he left the vehicle and was collected by his father.

He said the next day his mother told him she had received a call from someone about the altercation and that his name had come up.

Mr Hart said he called Charles Richardson, his lawyer, who went with him to a police station, where he was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder.

Under cross-examination, Mr Hart said he had been given a ride to Horseshoe Bay on the night of the fight, despite living a two-minute walk away.

He also told the court that while he initially rode the motorcycle away from the scene, he and his pillion passenger switched positions at the top of the hill.

Mr Hart accepted that in his evidence-in-chief he had not mentioned breaking a bottle of Malibu at the party, but denied the suggestion that he had thrown it to the ground.

“It was in someone’s hand and I moved it out of the way and it fell to the ground,” he said.

Mr Hart also maintained that while there was a dispute about a stolen phone, the allegations about a stolen bike was the argument that became heated.

Mr Nelson argued that it did not make sense for Mr Ford, Elijah Smith and Jansen Smith to be angry at those at the party about the stolen motorcycle because those who were still at the beach were obviously not the culprits.

While he suggested that Mr Ford and his friends never aggressively questioned anyone about a stolen bike, Mr Hart disagreed.

He also denied that a cut seen on his hand the day after the fight came from the altercation, stating that he had a fall at work two or three days before.

The trial continues.

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