A man accused of an attack over a drug debt dropped a knife after being reminded that a family member was once stabbed to death.

Crown witness Angela Trott told Supreme Court she urged 22-year-old David Trott to remember his aunt Chena Trott, who was murdered at Crawl Gas Station in 2002.

However, when the accused man took the witness stand on Friday he denied this exchange of words ever happened. He also claimed to have hit victim Ashley Smith only in self defence.

Trott, 22, is said by the Crown to have beaten Mr. Smith around the head with a crash helmet after he failed to pay him for $50 of crack cocaine.

Crown counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson has alleged the victim was enjoying an evening at a Angela Trott?s home in Ramgoat Hill, Smith?s, when the attack unfolded.

Ms Trott, from Broken Hill Lane, Smith?s, said yesterday that she is related to the defendant through his grandfather and he calls her ?Aunt Angela?.

She said he arrived at her home on the night of January 7 last year and asked Mr. Smith where his money was.

She described hearing an argument between the pair and then seeing the defendant hit the victim ?about seven or eight times? with the helmet. Ms Trott said she told a neighbour: ?Call the Police, quick, quick, quick, this guy?s getting beaten to death.?

She then saw David Trott go back into her home and get a knife out of a kitchen drawer.

?I told him ?your auntie just got killed, got stabbed down Shell gas station,?? she told the court, explaining that this caused him to put the knife back.

She also described helping Mr. Smith, 45, from Dunscombe Road, Warwick, after the alleged attack. ?Ashley was in so much pain. His face was all beat up,? she said.

Under cross-examination from Rick Woolridge, for the defence, she denied that she and Mr. Smith had been smoking crack prior to the incident.

She also denied having a history of drug abuse and a drug conviction.

After asking her numerous questions about her recollection of the attack, Mr. Woolridge put it to her: ?You were so intoxicated on that day in question that you don?t know the sequence of events.?

She replied: ?I was not intoxicated. I don?t drink.?

Next, the jury heard a statement from Dr. Ash Syed of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. This listed Mr. Smith?s injuries as including bruising to his left eye, a laceration to his face and a dislocated and fractured left ring finger.

Taking the stand as first witness for the defence, David Trott said he had lent the $50 to Mr. Smith ? whom he described as ?like an uncle? ? as he needed it to pay a bill.

He said when he visited the Ramgoat Hill house to ask for it back, he saw Mr. Smith and Angela Trott with crack pipes.

Mr. Smith swore at him when he asked for the cash and later hit him after he placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him running away.

?I was so shocked. He?s a big guy ? older than me. I didn?t what to do so I swung at him and hit him in his face using my left hand,? said Mr. Trott.

He then described a ?punch for punch? exchange in which he said he used the helmet in self defence after being trapped in a corner and hit in the head by a ?softball-sized? rock thrown by Mr. Smith.

He also told the court that that Mr. Smith hit him in the shoulder with a pipe.

Asked by Mr. Woolridge whether he had got a knife from the kitchen drawer or spoken with Angela Trott about this, he replied: ? We didn?t have a conversation at all.?

Trott denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and the case continues.