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Lawyers sum up in stabbing trial

The trial of a teenager charged with repeatedly stabbing 17-year-old Kyle Fraser continued yesterday, with both sides making their closing speeches.Crown counsel Susan Mulligan told the court that Sherwin Hall, 19, stabbed Mr Fraser multiple times after being confronted at a Sandys bus stop,However defence attorney Marc Daniels, representing Mr Hall, said the complainant produced the knife and his client was only trying to defend himself.Mr Hall, who was 17 at the time of the incident, has pleaded not guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm on Mr Fraser with intent to do so.Mr Fraser suffered life-threatening injuries in the 2010 altercation and was flown overseas for medical treatment, including open-heart surgery.The injuries occurred during a daylight fight between the two men at a bus stop near Traditions Restaurant.Ms Mulligan said that the defendant’s version of events, that he was trying to protect himself from the complainants knife, don’t account for the nature and extent of the injuries suffered.“He said Kyle kept coming at him. Onto his own knife, knowing it was there,” Ms Mulligan said. “Did that make any sense? That he thrust himself onto his knife?“The wound to his back also makes no sense, according to what Mr Hall told you.“These injuries, are they the result of two similarly built, same aged boys scuffling over a knife back and forth? I submit no.”She called Mr Hall’s testimony unreliable, calling him evasive, and said that while Mr Fraser has some gaps in his recollection, he was honest about it and gave consistent evidence.However, making his closing speech, Mr Daniels said that Mr Fraser’s memory of events was “selective.”He told the jury that the case boiled down to his client’s version of events against the complainants, calling it a matter of “he said versus he said.”Mr Daniels also told the court that his client had no reason to carry a knife to visit his family, and it was Mr Fraser who held a grudge over allegations of a burglary.Regarding the fight itself, Mr Daniels maintained that his client was only acting in self-defence, attempting to protect himself from the knife.“He was focused on the blade not pointing at him, and he was not aware of the gravity of injuries afflicted,” Mr Daniels said.He also noted Mr Hall’s behaviour following the fight, saying his client got away from the fight as soon as he gained possession of the knife and ran to Traditions Restaurant, where he called police.“He ran away,” Mr Daniels said. “He didn’t try to hide elsewhere. He went waited after having called the police himself.”