A man who almost died in mid-air from a drug overdose claimed yesterday someone must have injected him with drugs or used him as a decoy.

The seven-woman, five-man Supreme Court jury heard evidence from Floyd McCoy Hayward, who allegedly passed out in mid-air and almost died from a drug overdose during a British Airways flight to Bermuda.

Hayward, 45, of Friswells Hill, is charged with importing 81.5 grammes of diamorphime on a British Airways flight on April 9.

The court heard earlier Hayward drifted in and out of consciousness as a result of a heroin overdose and had to be attended to by Clare Holt, a doctor who was on the plane.

Yesterday Hayward, who claimed he was injected with a drug, gave evidence in his defence.

Hayward claimed he could not recollect what happened on the flight after he drank a soda, went to the bathroom on the plane, and fell asleep.

Crown counsel Patrick Doherty asked Hayward during cross-examination about the needle tracks which were seen on his arms on April 9.

"First of all, I have never used needles in my life,'' he said. "Even if I did have a needle, I would not know how to use it.

"I do not use drugs. Someone must have planted that on me or used me as a decoy.'' Hayward alleged someone was trying to take his life.

"It seems they tried to take my life to draw attention to me as a decoy,'' he said. He added that he would like to thank the doctor (Clare Holt) for saving his life.

Maralyn Lloyd, an Emergency Department nurse at King Edward V11 Memorial Hospital, told the jury Hayward admitted at 11 p.m. on April 9 he used heroin and he snorted it.

Miss Lloyd said Hayward was not cooperative at 6.30 p.m. that day when she attended him.

Larry Packwood, a technician who rode in the back of the ambulance from the airport to the hospital with Hayward, said he asked him if he was taking drugs. Mr. Packwood told the court Hayward made no reply initially.

He said he reached over and whispered softly into Hayward's ear "we are only here to help you, I am not a Policeman''.

Mr. Packwood said Hayward then told him he was using drugs, but he did not explain what type. The court also heard closing arguments.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher claimed the person who put the drugs on her client recognised he or she could make a profit by losing some drugs but getting others in.

Miss Christopher asked why her client would go through the trouble of taking a needle on a plane if he only snorted heroin.

"Whoever administered the drug had a steady hand when delivering the needle job,'' she said.

She also told the jury not to accept that the drugs were self-administered.

Hayward, she said, went to Amsterdam to visit his daughter.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Doherty suggested to Hayward he was tempted on the flight and he had consumed some of the heroin which made him sick.

Mr. Doherty in his closing arguments said Hayward's story did not hold water.

The prosecutor noted Dr. Holt treated Hayward for more than an hour in the flight after he was discovered sprawled in his seat.

He said Dr. Holt discovered a lump of heroin wrapped in a cleared plastic bag down Hayward's underwear.

Hayward's shirt sleeve was bloody, he had needle marks in his arm, and he showed symptoms of a drug overdose, Mr. Doherty pointed out.

He said it may have made more sense if the defence were saying that someone slipped drugs into Hayward's drink. But, he said, Hayward went to the bathroom on the flight after consuming some cokes and returned to his seat before flopping out. Hayward then slept for four hours during the flight, he said.

Mr. Doherty noted that it was not that easy to inject someone.

"It is not easy to inject someone,'' he said. "Someone had to roll up the sleeves of the individual, tie the arm off and ready the vein for the prick by hitting the arm,'' he said. "Why did he not wake up. Does this make sense to you?''