night that nearly cost him his life yesterday.

Dafyde Hermann Smith was giving evidence on the fourth day of the Supreme Court trial of David Dill, 31, of no fixed abode, who is charged with the attempted murder of Mr. Smith at his home in the early hours of April 15.

Remaining calm, Mr. Smith told how he fought off the intruder.

Around 11.45 p.m., after having checked that the doors and windows were secured, he and his wife retired to bed.

Around 4.30 a.m., Mr. Smith said he heard a strange noise coming from the upstairs area.

He told Senior Crown counsel Brian Calhoun how he and his wife, Julia Lopez Fernandez, struggled with the assailant, desperately trying to protect themselves.

Mr. Smith said he arrived home around 8.20 p.m. on April 14.

"It seemed to me like a metallic click,'' he said referring to a noise he heard coming from upstairs.

"A few minutes later, I heard another click. I decided to go up and investigate. I went up the stairs and turned right. Suddenly I saw a person standing in front of me. The person appeared to be waiting for me.

"All I could see was dark clothing. He said `Give me money. I want money.

"I screamed `Julia, Julia there's someone in the house -- call 911!'.

"He came closer and said `I've got a knife'. The next thing I recall, I had one of those chairs in my hand trying to fend this person off me.

"I realised that the door was open and I pushed him toward the door. Next thing I recall I lost the chair and we were grappling in the doorway. We fell onto the grass at the bottom of the steps. He continued to struggle with me while I was calling for help. I managed to get myself three quarters onto him to pin him down, but I could not hold him. I think it was then that I realised that I was wounded and losing strength.'' Dill's lawyer, Julian Hall, asked Mr. Smith if he could identify his client in the courtroom and if the description of Dill was consistent with that of the assailant.

Mr. Smith said: "He would appear to be consistent with the height of the intruder.'' A visibly distraught Ms Fernandez also took the stand yesterday.

She recalled hearing a noise of someone in pain upstairs in their residence on Second Avenue.

She told the court that she rushed upstairs to investigate, thinking her husband might have been suffering from a heart attack, only to find him being accosted by an assailant with a knife.

She added: "He looked at me with cold eyes. I'll never forget that stare.'' Ms Fernandez told the court that she was able to open the front door of the house.

"At this time I was screaming my head off,'' she recalled. "I was crying `Stop it!, Leave us alone!' but he did not stop.

"He very calmly said `Give me money'. I thought it was absurd.

During cross-examination Mr. Hall asked her whether her attacker was in the courtroom.

Mr. Hall pointed Dill out to her in the courtroom and asked her if she recognised him.

Ms Fernandez then said: "I think I recognise his eyes.'' But she admitted that she could not be sure if she recognised anything else, explaining that it was difficult to tell a person's build under loose-fitting clothing.

P.C. Norman testified that he was awakened by the sound of screaming.

"I left my house and ran over across the road,'' he said.

He told the court that he saw an hysterical Ms Fernandez and saw Mr. Smith lying at the base of the patio steps with several cuts around his chest area and a large cut to his right armpit.