Gregory Dill admitted yesterday that he "consciously'' armed himself with a knife which he used to fatally stab a 33-year-old Warwick man.

This was revealed during cross-examination by Attorney General Elliott Mottley during Dill's Supreme Court trial.

Dill, 34, of Angle Street, has denied murdering David Riley, on May 24 this year.

Mr. Riley was found lying in the doorway of his friend Maxwell Riley's apartment on Angle Street in Pembroke after he had been stabbed in the stomach.

Dill told the four-man, eight-woman jury that he picked up a knife and placed it in his pocket in a bid to force David Riley to "back off''.

But he said he ran some 25 feet from David Riley and never showed him the knife.

And he conceded that he did not call Police after previous confrontations with David Riley.

A series of witnesses have testified that the two men had been fighting that day.

At one point Riley was seen wielding a knife, while Dill was seen brandishing a metal pipe, they said.

Government analyst Kevin Lesk, who conducted tests on Riley's urine, liver and blood yesterday said the deceased was twice over the legal alcohol limit for driving.

Dr. Lesk said urine samples showed 225 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres, while blood samples indicated that there was 162 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol of blood in 100 millilitres of blood.

He told the jury that such a quantity of alcohol would have affected his coordination and slowed him down.

The doctor added that he detected an inactive form of cocaine but he could not say how long the inactive form of cocaine could have been in Riley's body.

During closing arguments, defence lawyer Archibald Warner insisted that the stabbing was not unlawful since his client was acting in self-defence.

Dill previously told the court that Riley chased him with a stick, beat him and tried to strike him on the head.

But Mr. Mottley told the jury that if Dill was frightened of David, he should have called the Police or tried to avoid him.

"If you wanted to avoid him, you would go to the pump room or to Southampton (where Dill was housesitting),'' he said. "Why would you go to the apartment where you know he will go?'' Chief Justice Austin Ward will begin his summation today.

Elliott Mottley