An off-duty Policeman who witnessed last month?s violence at Wellington Oval yesterday described how he watched a man drop immobilised to the ground after being struck with a plank of wood.

Det. Con. Garic Swainson told the Magistrates? Court trial of four men charged with offences connected to the April 4 violence that as he watched the Friendship Trophy Final, he saw a fight break out between a large group of people and that ?men were running towards the fight from all different directions?.

He said he convinced a reluctant man with a video camera to continue filming the eruption of violence.

?I took out my cell phone to call 911 but I got no answer, so I called the St. George?s Police Station and spoke with the duty officer to ask him to relay the message,? he said.

Det. Con. Swainson said he saw a man strike another man in the back of the head with a two-inch-by-four-inch piece of wood. The man immediately fell to the ground and did not move again.

Then Det. Con. Swainson spotted another man lying on his back having been chopped with a machete. The man was then helped to his feet by two or three other men and escorted to the driveway on the northern side of the field.

?As the victim got onto the grassy area behind the bleachers, he was attacked again by three men,? he said.

Det. Con. Swainson?s testimony was cut short by legal arguments over the prosecution?s withholding of a civilian?s witness statement due to fears for the person?s safety.

Lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, representing Ki-Jah Russell Butterfield, said she she had not seen two witness statements prior to the start of the trial last week.

Crown counsel Shade Subair admitted one of the statements was withheld due to safety concerns.

?We have kept one civilian statement because we are concerned about their safety,? Ms Subair said.

Ms Christopher said that she was unprepared to cross examine certain witnesses because she had not received their statements.

After deliberation, Ms Subair agreed to give Ms Christopher the statement later in the day.

Concerning the other witness statement, Ms Subair said Ms Christopher had not received it because the Crown hadn?t seen it either.

Ms Christopher voiced concern to the court about accusations that her client may threaten a witness.

?Not one iota has been suggested that these gentleman have interfered with witnesses,? she said. ?My client (Butterfield) surrendered himself to the Police Station when he heard the Police were looking for him.?

She added: ?These gentlemen are remanded for an offence that would, in the normal course of things, not attract a custodial sentence.?

Defence lawyer Leo Mills, who represents Wolde Trott and Kavon Earlstone Smith, also argued his clients had no reason to be feared because they had no prior records and no threats had been made by them.

Both Ms Christopher and Mr. Mills said they understood the violence at the Wellington Oval had generated concern within the community but reminded the court that the defendants were presumed innocent.

Butterfield, 21, of Paget, denies charges of possession of an offensive weapon (machete) and going armed to a public place in a manner to cause terror.

Trott, 21, of Paget, and Smith, 25, of Southampton, are both charged with possession of an offensive weapon and going armed to a public place in a manner to cause terror.

Jamie Ford, 23, of Warwick, is charged with possession of an offensive weapon, going to a public place with intent to cause terror, and assaulting Antoine Anderson. He is represented by Mark Pettingill.

Det. Con. Swainson will finish his testimony tomorrow when the trial continues before Magistrate Will Francis.