allegedly throwing gasoline on a security guard at a Hamilton bar.

Robert Reginald Smith, of North Shore Road, denied using a flammable liquid with intent to cause harm and causing grievous bodily harm.

Benjamin Smith, then Sparrows Nest bar security head, said the defendant threw gas on him and tried to set him on fire after he was thrown out of the bar for unruly behaviour on June 27 last year.

When questioned by Crown Counsel Mr. Khamisi Tukunbo, the former security guard said he escorted Smith from the bar because he swore and became hostile after he was chastised for grabbing himself in public.

He said he then restrained Smith about the neck because he attempted to push him.

He said after telling Smith he was a security guard he followed him to the bottom of the stairs and watched him go into the Canadian Hotel across the street.

Ten minutes later, Benjamin Smith said, he was very surprised to see Smith had returned to the bar.

"As he approached me and my vision became clearer I saw he had a container with something in it,'' he said.

As he went to restrain Smith, he recalled, some of the fluid spilled on his hand and on his shirt.

"At that time I was very frightened,'' he recalled. "My whole life flashed before my eyes.'' Benjamin Smith said he then pushed Smith outside of the main bar.

"At this point I pushed him in the corner and started to slap him,'' he said.

"This was the first time I saw the screw driver in his left hand and when I saw the matches in his right.'' He said the matches fell to the ground and a bartender intervened.

Under cross examination by defence lawyer Ms Sharon Kenny the former security guard admitted he was not on duty that night and had consumed at least three drinks.

However, he stressed that he was not drunk. And he said he reacted the same way an off-duty Police officer would.

Benjamin Smith also said it was possible he could have shoved the defendant down the stairs, but said he himself had stumbled on the same stairs.

The case resumes this morning before Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Meerabux.