Police who interviewed a man accused of beating a woman with a bar noticed fresh cuts on his hands hours after the assault.

However, Lloyd Hilton Smith claimed the injuries came from scraping his hands as he washed his car.

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.

Lambert suffered a broken leg and face and head injuries and has claimed Smith, her ex-lover, was to blame.

Det. Sgt. Michael Redfern, of Somerset CID interviewed Smith along with Detective Inspector Stephen Rollin hours after the attack.

Det. Sgt. Redfern said Smith had told him he had found Lambert in a beaten up state near Cheese Ray?s house in Southampton.

Det. Sgt. Redfern said: ?I asked him if he knew who assaulted and beaten her up. He said no.

?I asked him why he didn?t take her to hospital. He replied he was going to do so but she wanted to be dropped off at her friend?s house.?

When Det. Sgt. Redfern told Smith in the interview that Nicole Lambert had pointed the finger at him Smith replied that Carl and Sheridan Raynor had told her to say that because they supplied her with drugs.

It was then the Police noticed the fresh cuts on his hands.

Det. Sgt. Redfern said: ?I asked him how he got them, he said he got them changing a fuse on his taxi earlier that day.?

He denied getting this wrong when the report was later written days later. Smith told the court he had scraped his hands on the ground while washing his car near a laundromat in Devonshire.

Smith was examined at the Police station by family doctor Stephen Sherwin who also does work for the Police.

Dr. Sherwin told the court there were a number of scrapes and cuts on both hands.

He agreed with Smith they could have been caused by gravel on the side of the road.

The trial was then adjourned as the jury headed to Turtle Bay Crescent, Southampton where the attack was alleged to have happened.

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

The end of an era as Will bows out

The end of February will mark the end of an era for Belvin?s Grocery Store proprietor, Will (Pro) Pearman, who will close the doors of his Middle Road store for the last time.

Mr. Pearman, who has been robbed ?too many times to remember?, is selling the business and retiring. He insists, however, that the decision to get out of the business has nothing to do with the robberies, but is rather for health reasons after suffering three heart attacks last year.