An airline employee charged with helping a man accused of committing a brutal beating skip the Island, yesterday said she was "surprised" when he turned up at the airport to board a flight.

Carlena Caines told a Supreme Court jury it was a coincidence she was working at the US Airways check-in desk at L.F. Wade International Airport when Jermaine Simmons appeared.

She said the 27-year-old told her his sudden flight was brought on by a family emergency in Alabama.

The prosecution has argued that Simmons and Frederick Anthony Swann beat Damon Robinson unconscious outside Champions Sports Club on Reid Street on August 15, 2009. The 32-year-old suffered a broken jaw in two places, a collapsed left lung and bleeding and swelling to his brain.

Swann, 27, is accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Mr. Robinson.

Caines is accused of helping Simmons her alleged boyfriend flee the scene of the crime and the Island.

Both Caines and Swann deny the charges.

Yesterday Caines claimed that Simmons was in reality her ex-boyfriend. She told the court she remained friends with him, as she still lived in his family's home.

The mother-of-two said she was working at Champions around 3.30 a.m. last August 15 when Simmons and Swann appeared.

She described Simmons as "very, very drunk" and said he feel asleep on the bar as she was cleaning.

Caines told the court there was a "commotion" on the dance floor as she was cleaning, after which Simmons and Swann ran off.

She said a man who she knew as 'Damon' was shouting loudly in the bar. Caines said she didn't see Simmons again until she was leaving the club after 5 a.m.

The defendant said she went outside, started her car and then saw a man on the ground and a girl.

"I guess the girl was on her phone trying to call somebody," she said. "I said 'what the hell happened to him?' and she never replied. I figured she was on the phone and I just got back in my car."

Caines said she didn't know who the man was. She said she then went home with Simmons and Swann. She left for work at 9.15 a.m. the next day.

"I was surprised [Simmons] was in the [check-in] line because we were supposed to go away the Monday and it was the Saturday so I thought he got his dates mixed up.

"I asked him where he was going. He said he had an emergency [and] he had to go see his cousin."

She said she booked the ticket for Simmons.

Caines said she went back to Champions that night to work, and was approached by two men at the bar.

"They proceeded to ask me questions. I didn't know who the people were. One of them said 'are you Caines?' and I said yes. The guy asked me did I take two persons from the club last night. I said to him 'yes' and then he asked me do I know these persons and I said to him no I didn't."

She continued: "The other officer started shouting at me and said 'you need to tell us what you know and stop lying'. And I said to him 'what is your point?'. They both said 'if you don't tell us what you know, we are going to arrest you' and that's when I clearly knew they were cops."

Caines said she went outside with the officers and was then driven up the block to Hamilton Police Station, where she was arrested.

The trial continues.