Television reporter Gary Moreno yesterday denied that he made a complaint of assault against Government backbencher Glenn Blakeney to ?embarrass? the MP.

The ZBM journalist told a court he was not the aggressive one on July 28, 2005, when he claims Blakeney pushed him twice during an argument over broadcasting rights at Cup Match.

The trial of Blakeney, of Stovell Bay Road, Pembroke, who has pleaded not guilty to unlawful assault, resumed yesterday before Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo.

Blakeney?s lawyer Victoria Pearman, cross-examining Mr. Moreno, said: ?I?m going to suggest to you that these proceedings and the complaint that you had made are designed to embarrass Mr. Blakeney.?

?No, that?s not the case,? replied the complainant. Ms Pearman continued: ?I?m going to suggest that if anyone was aggressive on the 28th July, 2005, it was you.? ?I disagree with that as well,? Mr. Moreno replied.

Last month, the trial heard that tempers flared on the first day of the 2005 Cup Match at St. George?s Cricket Club as Mr. Moreno interviewed former Deputy Governor Nick Carter in the clubhouse.

Mr. Moreno claimed that Blakeney, PLP MP for Devonshire North Central and president of Hott 107.5 radio station, interrupted the interview on the grounds that Hott had exclusive rights to the event.

But the reporter believed that Bermuda Broadcasting Corporation, which owns ZBM, had permission to interview people around the ground, though not the cricket game itself.

Yesterday, he said he heard Blakeney explaining to the the Deputy Governor: ?Sir, this has to stop.? Asked if he reacted angrily, he replied: ?I would have reacted angrily but not in a hostile manner.?

Later, under re-examination by prosecutor Graveney Bannister, he said he did not touch Blakeney during the confrontation nor did he insult him.

Mr. Moreno?s brother-in-law and Bermuda Broadcasting Company cricket commentator Cleon Scotland was the next prosecution witness to take the stand. He initially told Ms Pearman under cross-examination that while talking to Mr. Moreno in the clubhouse on July 28 he never saw anyone push his brother-in-law.

But she told him that in a statement he gave Police on August 1, 2005, he said: ?I saw Mr. Glenn Blakeney reach out and push Mr. Moreno in the mid-section rib area.?

?Do you agree that that was false,? she asked. ?No,? replied Mr. Scotland, of Elizabeth Hills Road, Pembroke. Ms Pearman said: ?I?m going to suggest to you that you did in fact tell the Police officer that you saw a push that you never witnessed. I?m going to suggest to you that the reason that you used the word push is because someone told you to use that word.?

?That?s incorrect,? replied Mr. Scotland. He denied that his evidence was ?incredible? and a ?concoction? and said he had not discussed the details of the case with Mr. Moreno.

ZBM cameraman Ian Rawlins, of Lighthouse Road, Southampton, later told the court that he witnessed a heated exchange between Mr. Moreno and Blakeney on July 28. He said he did not see Blakeney push his colleague but saw him put his hand up toward his chest.

The prosecution closed its case yesterday and the trial was adjourned until January 9 when Mr. Tokunbo will rule on an application by Ms Pearman to have the Crown call two other witnesses.

She claimed St. George?s Cricket Club president Neil Paynter and another gentleman were witnesses to primary fact and she should have the chance to cross-examine them.