A father-of-three described how 20 men started smashing up his home while his wife and kids were inside.

According to Philmore Phinn, he pleaded with the group not to attack, but they did so anyway. They were looking for his brother-in-law Temasgan Furbert, who they later chased and beat up with various weapons, leaving him seriously injured.

Testifying in the trial of the seven men accused of the attack, Mr. Phinn told the jury he lives with his wife Merate Phinn and their three children in an apartment in Midland Heights, Hamilton Parish.

Mrs. Phinn is Mr. Furbert's sister and he lives in the next-door apartment.

Mr. Phinn explained he was in his kitchen washing dishes on the night of February 27 last year, about to give his children a bath, when he heard motorbikes arrive.

"I thought it was Temasgan and his friends outside my gate. They stopped. I was trying to look through my bay window to see who it was but I couldn't see because I had some stuff in front of my window," he said. "I came out of the door but a guy was stopped right by my window. He asked me for Temasgan and I said 'he's not here'."

Mr. Phinn said there were roughly 20 men at his house, and he started walking towards the gate behind them.

"Then I heard someone shout 'let's beat the house'. I turned to the guy and said 'you can't beat the house, I've got my wife and kids inside'. They ran back up to me and I ran back inside."

At this point, said Mr. Phinn: "They started to smash the windows at the same time. They were there for like ten minutes. I was trying to get outside and my wife was telling me 'don't go back outside'."

Mrs. Phinn called the Police and Mr. Phinn went back outside after the men left. He showed the 12 women of the jury pictures of a baseball bat lying on the ground next to a child's pink bike. He also showed them a piece of wood left in his yard after the attack. A total of seven windows were smashed in the incident, which were paid for by insurance.

In evidence earlier this week, Mr. Furbert, 23, described how he was in fact home at the time. The men chased him after he came out to see them smashing the windows.

When they caught him, they attacked him with weapons including a power drill, machetes, a baseball bat, helmets and a cane.

He required plastic surgery after his lip was almost torn off, lost four teeth, and needed stitches for a wound behind his ear allegedly inflicted with a power drill.

Seven men from St. George's are charged with wounding Mr. Furbert with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm: Detroy Smith, 24, Kyle Tannock Williams, 28, Damon Darrell, 28, Bennett Phipps, 26, Allan Douglas, 22, Kiawan Trott, 25, and Kiwaun Gilbert, 23.

Douglas and Trott are said to have been armed with machetes while Tannock Williams is alleged to have had a baseball bat. All seven are also accused of smashing the windows of Mr. and Mrs Phinn's home.

According to prosecutor Robert Welling, the attack was prompted by a fight involving Mr. Furbert and two men from St. George's the night before.

The accused men deny all the charges and claim they were never at the scene. The case continues.