A man accused of fatally stabbing Daunte Woods in an altercation outside a sports club was found not guilty of all charges.

Jahmari Beach, 33, accepted during the trial that he had a two-inch pocket knife on the morning of the incident, but denied that he had stabbed anyone.

After several hours of deliberation, the jury found Mr Beach not guilty of murder and manslaughter by a unanimous verdict.

The jury also found Mr Beach not guilty of possessing a bladed article in a public place.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe discharged the defendant, saying: “Having been found not guilty of all these offences, I hereby discharge you. You are free to go.”

Mr Beach was accused of murdering Mr Woods, 27, in an incident outside Somerset Cricket Club in Sandys in the early hours of October 25, 2020.

Over the course of the trial, the jury heard evidence from a witness who testified that some sort of altercation had taken place inside the club between the defendant and the deceased.

She said Mr Beach calmed down after going to the porch outside, but the situation became heated after both men left the club grounds.

The witness claimed that Mr Woods appeared to be the aggressor in the incident and that he approached Mr Beach with “a very long blade” while Mr Beach had a fishing knife or pocket knife.

However, she said she did not see the fatal blow because she closed her eyes.

The court heard Mr Woods had died as a result of sharp-force trauma to his heart and aorta, with a forensic pathologist stating that the injury was “not survivable”.

Mr Beach, meanwhile, suffered a wound to his stomach and remained in hospital for four nights after the incident.

He told the court that he was driven to Somerset Cricket Club by a friend and realised while in the club that he had a pocket knife with a two-inch blade in his pocket.

Mr Beach said that he stepped outside the club after Mr Woods repeatedly bumped into him and asked him what he was doing there and, while on the porch, Mr Woods approached him while reaching into his jacket as if to produce a weapon.

He said he then pulled out his pocket knife, opened it and held it to his side.

Mr Beach said he kept the knife at his side as he walked through the parking lot to leave and, after he reached the road, a motorcycle cut him off and he was struck in the head with a helmet.

He told the court that he did not know what happened to the knife after the blow, but he backed away as a group of people approached him aggressively.

Mr Beach said he ran after he saw a “flash” and realised only after he reached his friend’s car that he had been stabbed in the altercation.

Under cross-examination, he said that he had seen Mr Woods with a bladed article, but accepted that he was the only one on CCTV footage of the incident seen with a weapon.

Adley Duncan, for the Crown, told the jury that Mr Beach had escalated the incident when he revealed to Mr Woods that he was carrying a knife and video evidence suggested that the defendant was “angry and agitated”.

“It is Jahmari Beach who introduces a knife into the equation,” Mr Duncan said. “He had that knife in his hand ready to use it. It is the producing of the knife by the defendant that leads to everything else.”

Mr Duncan said that the jury should dismiss any thoughts that Mr Beach stabbed the victim in self-defence, stating that the force used in self-defence must be proportional.

Elizabeth Christopher, Mr Beach’s attorney, argued that the defendant had repeatedly backed away when confronted by Mr Woods and took a knife out of his pocket only because he thought the deceased was armed.

Ms Christopher said footage showed Mr Beach leaving the club grounds only to eventually have his way blocked by Mr Woods and another man on a bike, who at one point hit the defendant on the head with a helmet.

She said: “My client says that he was walking away and the bike followed. To him it felt like he was about to be jumped. If anyone has any doubts, just check the video.”

Ms Christopher added that Mr Beach had been honest on the stand and that it would have been “easy” for him to say Mr Woods had attacked him first, but he told the court that he did not believe Mr Woods had stabbed him.

“My client didn’t come here to lie,” she said. “He had been drinking and it was late, but he didn’t try to make things up.”

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers