A man accused of attempting to cause two men grievous bodily harm told a Supreme Court jury he was acting in self defence.

It is alleged Kenneth Caines, 20, arrived outside a Devonshire home sparking a violent dispute with four other young men on November 29 2003.

In the early hours of November 29, Marlon Rewan, 30, was allegedly robbed of several items of jewellery outside Captain's Lounge by Caines and then-16-year-old Ryan Burgess.

Marlon Rewan, accompanied by his two brothers, Stevon, 27, and Devon, 34, were able to get back most of the stolen items from Burgess, and later went looking for Caines for the remaining pieces of jewellery.

When unsuccessful the Rewans brother went to Burgess' home on Devon Lane. They were shortly met by Caines, who learned the men were looking for him.

"I wanted to tell them I had nothing that belonged to them," said Caines when asked about his intentions for visiting the Devon Lane home.

An intense period of shouting and arguing broke out between the young men, which quickly turned violent.

"I remember Devon picking up a brick and attacking the car. At that time I crouched down behind the rear end of the car to shield myself from the bricks. When I went to stand up I felt a blow at the top of my head," said Caines.

"I picked up the machete on the way up and started swinging. I had my head down I was just swinging side to side, saying 'back up, get back'," said Caines, who alleges he was acting in self defence.

"Then I got back to the car. It was my only escape route. I was cornered," he continued.

Caines currently faces two counts of unlawfully wounding with the attempt to do grievous bodily harm, one count of robbery and on count of possession of an offensive weapon for the incident.

Caines will be cross examined by Crown counsel members Carrington Mahoney and Wayne Caines this morning.