instructed the jury to acquit Grant Forbes of possessing a prohibited weapon in a public place.

Forbes, 24, of 86 Railway Trail, Sandys, still faces a charge of wounding Derrick Seymour with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Earlier in the day, defence lawyer Mr. Kim White called pathologist Dr. John Winwick to the stand. Dr. Winwick told the court a helmet of the type Seymour is alleged to have swung at Forbes was indeed a `significant weapon.' Dr. Winwick said that Forbes had been struck by the helmet, he could have sustained cracked ribs. A blow to the head could have rendered him unconscious.

He also said Seymour's injuries were not consistent with being `chopped.' Dr. Winwick agreed with Crown Counsel Mr. Khamisi Tokunbo that the machete was a more dangerous weapon.

Mr. Wayne Hollis, father of Forbes' girlfriend Carol, told the court that he had known Seymour for many years and he was "a good boy who had an uncontrollable disposition and didn't have the tolerance to deal with a complex problem.'' Mr. Hollis told the court he flew to home when Carol told him of the incident.

He said he spoke to Seymour about it, and Seymour told him he had become `hot and had lost it.' In final arguments, Mr. White told the court Seymour could not be relied on to tell the truth. He said Seymour had admitted lying in his statements, and when under oath he could not remember the lies he had told.

Mr. White told the court jealousy and hurt were major factors in the confrontation, and Seymour himself had admitted that he believed that Forbes believed Seymour would harm him.

Mr. Tokunbo said in his final summation that Seymour was not on trial. He told the court the defence had conceded there had been a wounding, Seymour's only intention had been to confront Hollis about her relationship with Forbes.

Mr. Tokunbo asked if lunging at someone with a machete was an act of prevention. He asked if a machete was a necessary response to a helmet. He said: "The only conclusion one can get from a weapon like this is an intention to cause grievous bodily harm, and to have inflicted a person with a blow, and see them fall to the ground and leave them there, what does that indicate?'' The case continues today when Mr. Ground gives his final instructions to the jury before releasing them to begin their deliberations.