Kenneth Burgess yesterday told a murder trial jury he never launched a brutal baseball bat attack on the Cooper twins.

In tense scenes in Supreme Court One, the defendant rejected suggestions he had lied to the jury ? and told Crown counsel Paula Tyndale he never attacked Jahmal and Jahmil with an aluminium weapon.

Burgess denied he had assaulted Jahmil in a ground floor apartment at Crown Hill Lane, Devonshire, in the early hours of March 13 last year, and then used a bat to beat Jahmal numerous times on various parts of his body.

And Burgess also rejected Ms Tyndale?s claim that, after accusing Jahmal of robbing his father, he turned on Jahmil and beat him on his legs with the same bat, as the twin lay face down on the ground.

Burgess, who took to the witness stand on Wednesday afternoon, had already told the jury he was not responsible for injuries inflicted on the 20-year-old brothers.

The twins were last seen alive on March 13. Their decomposing bodies were recovered from Abbot?s Cliff about a month after they were reported missing.

Burgess said he was at his gambling den on Elliott Street for most of the night in question, and then picked his wife and young son up from King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, in the early hours of March 13.

The prosecution claim Burgess and co-accused Dennis Alma Robinson drove a group of people, including the twins, from the gambling site to Burgess? ground floor flat in Devonshire. This is where Burgess launched the violent assault, the prosecution alleges, as Robinson stood by the door. Burgess told the court yesterday, however, that he never went to the lower apartment on that night.

Earlier, MsTyndale, during cross examination, said that Det. Con. Carl Neblett had already told the trial that Burgess made several attempts to contact a lawyer on March 13 before he made a witness statement at Hamilton Police Station.

She asked the defendant: ?Are you still maintaining that before the statement was taken you had no opportunity to make contact with an attorney?? Burgess said he was.

Ms Tyndale said the defendant had asked Det. Con. Neblett if he could contact a lawyer before being allowed to make several cell phone calls. She said Burgess then indicated to the detective that he had been unable to make contact, but that his wife would make arrangements.

Burgess said he made a phone call to a lawyer after giving the statement detailing his whereabouts between 3 and 6 a.m. that morning. Minutes after making that statement, the jury has heard, Burgess was arrested in connection with the twins? disappearance. Burgess has said Police did not tell him he was giving information in relation to the Cooper case until he was cautioned.

Ms Tyndale also asked Burgess about an altercation with one of the twins in his Elliott Street gambling den, about a year before he was arrested in this case.

Burgess said the chances of him not wearing his ?favourite? Tissot watch on the night he said he punched one of the twins would have been ?fairly remote?. The watch was taken from Burgess when he was arrested last March, and DNA tests later showed Jahmal?s blood on it.

Quizzed about the altercation, Burgess denied he had ever said he punched the twin with his right hand.

The trial has already heard Burgess claim violence flared after one of the twins accused Burgess? father of spreading the word that the twin was responsible for assaulting him.

Burgess said he asked the twin to move away from his father, and after a struggle, punched him in the face causing his nose to bleed.

But Ms Tyndale said Burgess slapped Jahmil to the ground then started kicking him. She then said prosecution witness Gladwyn Cann then grabbed drunken Jahmil and pulled him out of Burgess? way. Burgess said this was not the case, but said his hand was swollen after the incident.

The court also heard yesterday how Burgess and Robinson became friends at college when they studied together overseas.

Burgess, 33, said he had known co-accused Robinson for about ten years and the jury was told Burgess had a photo of himself and Robinson at college, found in an album in an upper apartment at Crown Hill Lane.

The defendant said Robinson had probably attended his Elliott Street gambling den three times, and was there on the night the Cooper brothers disappeared. Burgess said he saw Robinson in a white van that night.

More details emerged yesterday about Burgess? gambling operations, with the defendant admitting he organised crown and anchor games at cricket matches on the Island, as well as at the property he rented on Elliott Street. He said the purpose of the Elliott Street operation was to earn an income and pay the rent.

During questions from Courtenay Griffiths QC, for Burgess, the defendant said his father had never operated gambling services from Elliott Street.

Phone records requested by Police for Burgess? cell phone and landline and his wife?s cell phone were outlined in detail in court yesterday.

Mr. Griffiths went through times of various calls, which the defence say support Burgess? account of phone conversations with his wife in the early hours of March 13, with officials from three Bermuda telephone companies.

Both defendants deny murder. The trial continues today.