A Pembroke man told Police that his friends beat a golf caddy to death in a Hamilton car park, an inquest heard yesterday.

And while Michael Robinson protested his innocence he insisted that he was just "in the wrong place at the wrong time''.

The man's claims came during the fourth day of an inquest into the death of Brian Sherlock more than three years ago.

Mr. Sherlock was found lying in a pool of blood in the Dundonald Street car park by a woman during the early hours of the morning on May 20, 1994.

He was rushed to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital suffering from stab wounds and head injuries.

He succumbed to haemorrhaging in the brain caused from a fractured skull.

Yesterday a Coroner's jury listened to two October 19, 1994, statements in which Robinson told Police he did nothing wrong.

During the first statement, Mr. Robinson allegedly began to cry during the interview in which he insisted that he was just in the "wrong place at the wrong time''.

Mr. Robinson said he and his friends -- Damian Smith and Paco Fubler -- left a Court Street nightclub around 2 a.m. and headed west on Elliot Street.

He claimed that Mr. Smith brought up the idea of killing someone and that the victim should be the first person they saw.

He told Police that when the group passed a pile of trash, Mr. Smith picked up "something'' and Mr. Fubler picked up sticks -- handing him one.

Mr. Robinson claimed that he threw his stick away as the three walked.

When they got to the Dundonald Street car park, Mr. Robinson told Police that Mr. Smith ran towards Mr. Sherlock who was lying on the parking meter.

He alleged that Mr. Smith started to hit Mr. Sherlock in the head, striking him about eleven times.

According to Mr. Robinson, Mr. Fubler hit Mr. Sherlock around the head with a stick while he watched -- doing nothing to stop the attack. He argued that if he tried to stop the beating, which he described as severe, his friends would have turned on him.

He told Police that Mr. Smith asked him to "finish him off'', but he claimed that he refused to do so.

Mr. Robinson alleged that Mr. Fubler then stabbed Mr. Sherlock about four or five times with a black-handled diver's knife.

The three reportedly fled the scene when they spotted a car approaching.

And Mr. Robinson told Police that Mr. Smith threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the incident. A five-man, three-woman jury was empanelled last Wednesday to determine how, when and where he met his death.

And if they find that he died as a result of murder or manslaughter, they must also point the finger at the responsible party or parties.

Last week, the jury heard conflicting accounts of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Sherlock's death.

During a Police statement Mr. Fubler claimed that Mr. Smith picked up a stick and broke it into three pieces, so each man had a length.

Mr. Fubler told Police that upon spotting Mr. Sherlock lying in the car park, he told his friends they should not pick on the man.

He said he went along with his friends because he was scared.

After the three men beat Mr. Sherlock, Mr. Fubler alleged that Mr. Robinson -- not Mr. Smith as reported last week -- demanded a knife and then cut the man.

Yesterday Det. Con. Terry Maxwell said that during an October 23, 1994, Police reconstruction with Mr. Fubler, he alleged that Mr. Smith had a pipe -- not a stick as a weapon.

But under questioning by lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, Det. Con. Maxwell admitted that prior to Det. Con. Maxwell raising the issue of a pipe, Mr.

Fubler only alleged that Mr. Smith had a stick as a weapon.

And last week the jury heard a third version by Mr. Smith's cousin Sean Smith which focused blame on Mr. Fubler and Mr. Robinson.

In a Police witness statement Sean Smith claimed that his relative spoke to him on the morning of May 20, 1994, about Mr. Sherlock's death.

Sean Smith told Police that his cousin said he got Mr. Fubler and Mr. Robinson to do in Mr. Sherlock "to keep his mouth shut''.

And he claimed that his cousin told him that he did not personally attack Mr.

Sherlock.

But on the witness stand this week Sean Smith claimed that his witness statement was untrue.

The inquest continues today before Senior Coroner Will Francis with Crown Counsel Nicole Stoneham and Coroner's Officer Sgt. Donald Grant conducting the case.

Lawyer Marc Telemaque represents Mr. Fubler, Ms Christopher represents Mr.

Smith, and Juan Wolffe appears on behalf of Mr. Robinson.