A man accused of GBH cross examined his alleged victim after sacking his lawyer during his Supreme Court trial.

Lloyd Hilton Smith complained that lawyer Mark Pettingill had not spent enough time with him preparing the case and asked for another lawyer to be appointed.

And after much debate Smith was told to mount his own defence.

Smith, 53, of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Nicole Lambert, depriving her of her freedom and to being in possession of an offensive weapon, namely a pipe, on March 1 of last year in Turtle Bay Crescent, Southampton.

At one stage Smith got up to leave the witness box and said he didn't want to listen anymore.

He said: "Go ahead with what you want to do, I am out of here."

Smith asked for the trial to start over again but was told not to disrupt proceedings.

The defendant pointed out that he had earlier complained about not having enough time with Mr. Pettingill but was only granted a day's adjournment earlier this week.

"I was looking for a month or two," he said.

Mr. Pettingill told he had been given 96 pages of written instructions from his client and had spent two hours on the phone to him and had personal conferences.

He said: "When I met with him on Tuesday for one hour and 45 minutes he indicated he was quite comfortable ? he fired his first lawyer and wanted to get me."

Smith told the court he had wanted Larry Scott or "his brother" but Mr. Pettingill was the only one free.

Assistant Justice Archibald Warner ruled the trial would continue without Mr. Pettingill.

Smith was told he could cross examine Ms Talbot, 35, but the defendant initially said he didn't feel comfortable with that.

"This is a person I have feelings for ? she broke down in the box and I broke down," he said.

During a slow cross examination he probed her about her claim that she had not been in a relationship with him for over four years.

She denied claims she saw him three times a day.

Asked if she took money from him she said: "When we were going together you gave me money, you were my friend, not for sex."

Smith replied: "I didn't say anything about sex."

Earlier in the trial Ms Lambert said Smith had viciously beaten her after taking her against her will from Middle Road, Southampton to Turtle Bay Crescent where the alleged assault took place.

Yesterday she denied often visiting Turtle Bay Crescent before the incident.

Asked why she carried a knife Ms Talbot said "I always carry a weapon due to past experiences."

She denied Smith's claim that he had found her in a beaten state. A tearful Ms Talbot said: "No, he was there, he was the one that did it, it's hard to sit here!"

She denied asking to be taken to her mother's house or back to her Middle Road, Southampton home or taking a ride to Lighthouse Hill.

Smith asked her why, when he had dropped her off at her home, she had not screamed out to her flatmate Gina DeCosta if he was responsible for the attack.

Ms Lamber said: "I tried, nothing came out." Smith replied: "If she could call Gina she could scream."

Detective Constable Terry Pringle said she had attended Turtle Bay Crescent on the day of the alleged assault with others and picked up items including an earring, eye glass frames and knife, later identified by the victim.

She said Smith was arrested and detained but at one stage refused to leave the Police cell when asked and said he didn't want to provide a statement.

He was later interviewed under caution and said he had been intimate socially, mentally and sexually with Ms Lambert for over six years and was in contact with her three or four times a day.

He gave a 'no comment' answer to several questions including whether he had picked her up from by the Seventh Day Adventist Church before driving her to Turtle Bay Crescent.

He said: "Someone is making this stuff up because I am being set up, framed."

He first blamed Ms Lambert and said she was protecting her drug supplier who had promised to feed her habit.

Asked who this was Smith said: "I haven't a clue, she has lots of men friends."

Asked if that meant his relationship wasn't a serious one he said he was committed but didn't know if Ms Lambert was. Asked who would try to frame him he told Police interviewers: "Someone in the PLP government who probably lives in that area."

He said he had a $60,000,000 lawsuit out and complained about El James, George Scott, Derrick Burgess, Ewart Brown and Joe L Brown.

Smith said Ms Lambert knew people on the Public Service Licensing Board who had claimed Smith was on drugs.

He told Police: "I was never tested."

He said he had later come across Ms Lambert in her beaten state but initially refused to say where before confirming it was Turtle Bay Crescent.

The Crown is represented by Anthony Blackman. The case, in front of seven woman, five man jury continues today.