A man who told a jury that he saw his friend’s murder denied lying to the court after being confronted with omissions from his previous statements.

Under cross-examination, Elijah Smith accepted that he did not tell police that he and his friends arrived at Horseshoe Bay on stolen bikes that night, that they were wearing ski masks or that he kicked Eze Hart in an effort to separate him from Kanye Ford during a fight.

However, he maintained that he saw Mr Hart stab Mr Ford twice in the midst of the altercation.

“If I left details out before now, I’m here in front of the court, the judge and the jury and I’m going to give every little detail,” he said. “If I didn’t say that before, I’m saying it now because it’s the truth.”

Mr Hart, 22, has denied murdering 16-year-old Mr Ford in an incident in the Horseshoe Bay car park on September 9, 2022.

Elijah Smith told the court on Wednesday that he had gone to the beach with Mr Ford and Jansen Smith to attend a party.

They were sitting on a bench near the parking lot when a friend of Mr Hart approached them asking about a stolen phone.

The witness said that the person was joined by Mr Hart and others soon after, but the dispute simmered down and the groups had begun to separate when an argument started between Mr Ford and a woman.

Elijah Smith said Mr Hart then struck Mr Ford in the back of the head with a bottle, sparking a fist fight that caused them both to fall.

The witness said he saw Mr Hart stab Mr Ford in the hip as he was reaching to pull the pair apart.

The witness said he then kicked Mr Hart, but retreated when two others ran towards him with knives and bottles.

He said when he turned around again, he saw Mr Hart stab Mr Ford in the chest, with the victim screaming and falling to the ground.

However, the witness admitted that he told police on the scene that he did not see what had happened and maintained that lie during a police interview conducted the next day.

He told the court that he lied because he did not want to “snitch”, but told the police the truth in a 2023 interview to get justice for his friend and address rumours that he had been the one responsible.

As the trial continued yesterday, Elijah Smith admitted that he was arrested in October 2022 for possessing a bladed article in a public place and riding a stolen motorcycle.

He said that he carried the knife for protection because he was “traumatised” by Mr Ford’s death, but that he had turned over a new leaf in 2023.

Questioned by Charles Richardson, counsel for Mr Hart, Elijah Smith maintained that he had told the truth both on the stand and during his 2023 interview, although he admitted omitting that he had arrived at the beach on a stolen bike when speaking with the police.

He said that while he did not mention trying to kick Mr Hart, he said he did tell police he tried to get the defendant off his friend during the fight.

Elijah Smith also admitted that he did not mention that he, Jansen Smith and Mr Ford had gone to the beach wearing ski masks.

He told the court that wearing ski masks was a “trend” and that he was the only one of the three that had worn the mask over his face.

“The plan was not to go down there to start trouble,” he said. “We didn’t come down there with knives. We didn’t start trouble. Trouble came to us.”

Mr Richardson suggested that Elijah Smith had a knife that was kicked out of his hand during the scuffle, but the latter denied the claim.

He also denied the suggestion that he had seen Jansen Smith wield a knife that evening, but that he was told to put it away by an older male who claimed to have a gun.

Elijah Smith accepted that he spoke with Jansen Smith before they were interviewed the day after Mr Ford’s death, and that the pair had agreed to not mention the stolen motorcycles and to state that they had gone their separate ways when they arrived at the party.

The witness said that he was approached by police several weeks before the second interview, when the officers had urged him to give his version of events.

He denied the suggestion that the main reason why he agreed to the interview was to clear his name, but agreed that rumours about his involvement were spreading soon after the murder.

Elijah Smith also said that, at the time of the 2023 interview, he believed that a woman had given a police statement blaming him for the stabbing, but the court heard that she had not accused him of being the culprit.

He told the court he was not aware of all the details of the statement, but he knew that she “wasn’t telling the truth”.

“If she didn’t say exactly what I said when I came up here, she’s not telling the truth,” he said.

The trial continues.

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