The prosecutor in a murder trail called on the jury to recognise how much the Crown’s star witnesses were trying to serve justice.

Karim Nelson told the jury yesterday that Elijah Smith and Jansen Smith had put their lives on the line to give evidence during the trial of Eze Hart.

He admitted that the two initially told lies to police about the death of Kanye Ford — but added that they chose to stand before the Supreme Court because they wanted to do the right thing.

Mr Nelson said: “They came to this court and they put everything on the table.

“It’s when a Catholic goes to confession and they put out everything — it’s because they are repentant.”

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

At trial, the court heard that Mr Ford and a few others came to a party at the beach, where Mr Hart and others confronted them about a stolen bike.

The jury heard that Mr Hart later smashed a Hennessey bottle over Mr Ford’s head and a fight broke out, during which time Mr Ford was stabbed in the chest three times and succumbed to his injuries.

In his closing statement, Mr Nelson the pair had been “quite candid” when they took the stand, with Elijah Smith explaining that they arrived on stolen bikes and Jansen Smith describing his criminal lifestyle at the time.

He added that they had been up front about their lies to police during the investigation when they declined to tell officers that they were on stolen bikes, wore ski masks or that Elijah Smith kicked Mr Hart while the accused was fighting Kanye Ford on the ground.

Mr Nelson reminded the jury that the pair said their lifestyles made them afraid of being labelled as “snitches”, with Jansen Smith warning there were “serious consequences” for co-operating with the police.

He added that the two coming clean on the stand spoke to their dedication to seeing justice.

Mr Nelson said: “They told you straight up, ‘when we spoke to police, when they asked us if we saw anything, we lied’.

“It’s not an ‘if’ that you had to discover. They came up and they told you because they are honest people.

“That’s what honest people do — they fess up when they’re wrong.”

Mr Nelson added that both men came forward because they were “done with that life” and wanted to seek justice for their friend.

He explained that Elijah Smith had gone on to study engineering in Britain, while Jansen Smith had become a devout Christian and changed his life.

Mr Nelson said that the young men had made bad life decisions but it did not disqualify them from being good citizens now.

He told the jury: “Just because these boys lived a certain lifestyle doesn’t mean they can’t come here and do the right thing.”

He added: “Who among us has never done wrong? Who among us has never told a lie? Who among us has never done something that might have been criminal?

“But who among us is also unable to do good?”

The trial continues.

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