An alleged machete and hoe attack left victim Kuma Smith with a cut to his left arm so deep it fractured one of the bones in his forearm and almost severed tendons that enable movement of the fingers.

A surgeon told a jury the injury was consistent with the man?s arm being raised upwards in a defensive position and being struck by a sharp object.

When shown a hoe alleged to have been used in an attack consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Milan Oleksak said it was possible it could have caused the injury.

Dr. Oleksak was giving evidence in the ongoing trial of Harron Lee Powell Evans, 31, Akono Shakir Parsons, 24 and Davon Michael Marson, 29.

A Supreme Court jury has previously heard the prosecution case that Mr. Smith was set upon with a machete by Marson in the Deepdale area of Pembroke and was then pursued by Evans and Parsons who attacked him with a machete and hoe after he dived into the back of a passing dump truck while trying to escape.

Marson, Evans and Parsons have all denied attempting to murder Mr. Smith in January 2005.

On day six of the trial the jury heard medical evidence from Dr. Oleksak who treated Mr. Smith?s injuries, which he described as multiple cuts mainly to the left forearm with one of the cuts so deep it fractured one of two bones in the forearm.

?The fractured bone is commonly the first to get broken because it is used in a protective way,? said Dr. Oleksak, explaining the reflex action of raising an arm to shield against an incoming blow.

Dr. Oleksak also said in court: ?The main injury was a depressed skull fracture. We took him to the operating suite to elevate the depressed skull fracture and deal with the left arm injuries.?

Cuts to Mr. Smith?s arm had affected the long tendons that move the fingers but these were repaired by Dr. Oleksak, he also repaired cuts to the index and ring fingers.

?The most obvious injury was the traumatic amputation of his ?pinkie? finger. I fashioned an amputation stump.

The finger was not salvageable.

The arteries and veins were severed and it was literally hanging,? he said.

Asked what type of objects might have caused the various injuries, Dr. Oleksak said anything sufficiently sharp, such as a knife, machete or a hoe.

Police motorcyclist Earl Peterkin was one of the first to arrive on the scene following the alleged attack.

He told the court he had seen four men running away from the scene and that a broken machete was recovered from beneath the dump truck.

Pc. Peterkin admitted he had arrested a man two days after the incident who he had thought was one of the men who fled the scene but who subsequently turned out to be unconnected.

Evans, who is defended by Charles Richardson, has denied further charges of causing wilful damage and possessing an offensive weapon.

While Parsons has further denied causing wilful damage and common assault, he is defended by Rick Woolridge Jr.

Marson is defended by Elizabeth Christopher and has pleaded not guilty to a further charge of possessing an offensive weapon.

The case, which is being heard before Acting Chief Justice Norma Wade-Miller, continues.