A British entertainer denied having any knowledge about heroin found in his hotel safe but accepted that he entered the country using fraudulent documents.

David Osadebay, 38, told the Supreme Court that he had come to the island in 2023 for a holiday and believed that someone else had placed the drugs in his safe minutes before he was arrested.

“I was not aware of that in my safe at all,” he added.

Mr Osadebay has denied a charge that he possessed diamorphine, commonly known as heroin, with intent to supply on August 4, 2023.

The court previously heard that Mr Osadebay was arrested that day on suspicion of using fraudulent documents to enter Bermuda that week under the name Joshua Webb.

A search of his room revealed a series of plastic-wrapped capsules, which were together found to contain more than 160 grammes of heroin with a purity of between 9 per cent and 11 per cent.

Taking the stand in his defence yesterday, Mr Osadebay told the court that he was a hip-hop and rap artist who had performed under the stage name “C Biz”.

He told the court that in addition to making money through online streaming services, he would regularly perform at shows, including at arenas, for which he would be paid ₤30,000 to ₤40,000 (about $40,000 to $53,000).

Mr Osadebay said that to avoid scrutiny in the media, appointments were often made on his behalf in other names.

“They are everywhere,” he said. “There is always someone trying to sell a story, trying to sell footage, so you have to be careful.”

While he said he promoted himself as “C Biz”, he told the court that it was not difficult for people to find out his actual name.

He accepted that he had travelled to the United States and elsewhere with a fraudulent passport provided to him with the name “Joshua Webb”.

Mr Osadebay said that in 2023 he had missed most of Britain’s summer concert season because he was in the United States and decided that he wanted to take a trip to Bermuda before starting work on a new project.

While he said he had not been to Bermuda, he had met several Bermudians and had been introduced to some local music.

“I ended up speaking with my management,” he said. “I was speaking to them, saying there were some artists over there. It sounded fresh.

“I had a little window when I could go for a few days and come back and be in the studio.”

Mr Osadebay said that when he arrived on the island he was met by someone he knew as “Jay” who took him to his hotel and, over the course of the next few days, showed him around the island.

He said that on August 4, he had intended to go to Cup Match but found himself waiting in his hotel room until that afternoon, when Jay arrived with another man he did not know.

Mr Osadebay said that when they arrived he was speaking on the phone to his daughter and the men asked if they could use his bathroom.

He said one of the men then asked if he could leave something in his safe, which he agreed to and gave them the combination.

Mr Osadebay said that at the time he was still on the phone and was eager to leave to get to Cup Match.

“I was trying to leave the hotel,” he said. “I was sitting outside on the chair.”

Mr Osadebay said he did not see what was put in the safe until after he was arrested minutes later while he was being driven down Parsons Road.

Under cross-examination, he said that his last arena performance was in 2022 when he was the opening act in a concert at the O² Arena in London, for which he received ₤10,000.

However, he estimated that he had made about ₤100,000 in the 12 months before his arrest.

He said he did not know the name of the man who came with Jay on August 4, and he was not curious at the time about what was being put in the safe.

Mr Osadebay admitted that he had lied to police officers after his arrest by stating that the jewellery in the safe was not his, because he believed it would help him get the jewellery back.

The trial continues.

• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding criminal court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case