The lawyer defending an alleged attacker in Supreme Court yesterday revealed his client's previous convictions to the jury.

Delroy Duncan told the court that defendant Keith Neville Bean was convicted for an offence of grievous bodily harm 13 years ago and of using offensive language three years later.

He received a six month conditional discharge for the attack, in which a work colleague suffered a ten-inch wound to his head and a fractured foot, and a $100 fine for the bad language. The 34-year-old crane operator, who is charged with wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm to his colleague Michael Carey in June of last year, took to the stand yesterday in the third day of the trial.

Bean, of Somerset Road, Sandys, who is black, maintains that Carey, who is white, subjected him to racial slurs regularly and called him a n***** and said "black boys were nothing''.

Mr. Carey has disputed the race abuse allegations throughout the trial.

Bean said he acted out of provocation when he punched Mr. Carey and fractured his skull with a shackle last year.

The court has heard that both men worked for Correia Construction and were aboard a barge at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club's new pier in Hamilton Harbour when an argument broke out.

Bean threw a rope to Mr. Carey to tie up a boat but missed him.

The accused, who is married, said the victim then went on to goad him before saying "f**k you, black a**hole''.

Bean claimed that Mr. Carey then said "f**k you, your mother and your family''.

The defendant added: "He turned his head. I punched him in the shoulder.

After I punched him, he f****d me over again. He called me a black c***.

"He grappled me to the ground. We fell towards one corner of the barge. I can't swim. When he gripped me, he tried to push me in the water.

"He was trying to use the water as a weapon. That p****d me off.'' Bean said colleague William Peniston pulled the two men apart but the incident continued.

The accused said: "I bent down and threw the shackle to his head.

"I felt a lot of pressure from this guy. This guy was giving me racial slurs.

I was very uncomfortable. The pressure just built up. That's why I probably snapped.'' Bean claimed that Mr. Carey, a supervisor for the company, regularly used racist taunts.

He added: "He talked to the guys nasty. He never had anything good to say to anybody.'' Mr. Duncan revealed Bean's previous convictions to the court, but said Bean used a stick in the attack on his former work mate because he picked up a paint can.

Bean told the court that on that occasion, in 1987, he gave a full confession to the Police.

Under cross-examination, Crown counsel Patrick Doherty referred to the previous attack and said: "You mentioned your previous convictions. You got into a fight on the job.'' Bean told the court that he struck the man after he called him a pr**k.

Referring to the Police report made at the time, Mr. Doherty said: "You caused a ten-inch wound to his head. It also says that you fractured his foot and caused contusions to his body.'' The court heard earlier in the week company boss Dennis Correia describe Bean as "one of the hardest working guys around''.

But the business owner also said he had never heard Mr. Carey utter any racial slurs or direct any curses at workers in nearly eight years of knowing him.

Mr. Correia said: "If you knew the make-up of our crew and our guys you would appreciate that's not the way it is. I never heard racial stuff and I would not allow it.'' Mr. Carey said in court that he never used racial abuse or taunts toward Bean or anybody else, but admitted telling Bean not to be an a**hole over such a trivial matter after the first exchange of words took place.

The victim added: "I can't believe this has turned into a racial issue. Keith and I were friends. We have been friends for years.''