Alleged killer Gernell Darrell told detectives he tried to stab murder victim George Kelly but he did not mean to kill him, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

But Darrell said the attack took place at Hamilton bus station and not, as the Crown claims, at the nearby Church Street taxi rank.

Darrell, 23, who denies murder, told Police Mr. Kelly pulled out two knives during an argument at the bus station on May 31 last year and that the victim stabbed him once in the chest.

He said within seconds of the stabbing, Mr. Kelly, a homeless man, dropped one of the knives, which Darrell then picked up and tried to stab the victim in the chest.

Darrell, of Swansbay Hill, Pembroke, initially told detectives he had been stabbed by an unknown man with long dreadlocks and he did not know why.

But when questioned later under caution, he told Detective Sergeant Jerome Laws that he tried to stab Mr. Kelly, 42, at the bus station.

“The older guy (Mr. Kelly) pulls out two knives and pulls the knife to my chest and stabs me. He drops one knife and I try to get one knife and try to stab him. I'm not sure if I stabbed him,” he told the officer.

In a later interview he said he aimed for Mr. Kelly's left chest and that he did make contact with him. Mr. Kelly died of a single stab wound which punctured his heart.

Mr. Kelly's body was found the following morning in the car park next to the Silver Spoon restaurant in Victoria Street next to a partially eaten Kentucky Fried Chicken meal and some empty miniatures of rum.

When Det. Sgt. Laws put it to him that Mr. Kelly died as a result of the stabbing, Darrell replied: “I never intended to hurt him, but he stabbed me and I didn't know what else to do.”

The Crown case is that the fatal stabbing took place in a taxi rank in Church Street a few minutes after Mr. Kelly stabbed Darrell at the bus station.

But Darrell said he could not remember going to the taxi rank with Wayne Christopher and Zakia Simmons after the first stabbing to look for Mr. Kelly. The trial has heard contradictory evidence about the time of the attack ranging from around 8.30 p.m. to some time after 9 p.m..

In interview, Darrell was asked why he went looking for Mr. Kelly again if he had already stabbed him. He replied: “I was angry and probably wanted to make sure he was stabbed.”

When he was asked if he wanted to kill him, he said: “No, I did not want to kill him. I just stabbed him in the chest because he stabbed me in the chest.”

The trial before Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons heard there was evidence that Mr. Christopher went looking for Mr. Kelly in Victoria Park armed with a machete some time later in the evening after he took Darrell to hospital on his bike.

Det. Sgt. Laws said Police investigated this as far as they could, but that witnesses said they saw Mr. Christopher leave the park in the opposite direction to where the body was found.

The officer admitted that not a trace of blood was found on the route where Mr. Kelly ran after he was allegedly stabbed in the heart - from Church Street, down Cedar Avenue and at the car park at the restaurant on Victoria Street.

Darrell's lawyer Mark Pettingill asked the officer: “Does it strike you as plausible that Mr. Kelly is fatally stabbed in the heart at this location and runs through this route to the Silver Spoon, goes over the wall and disappears and ends up cosily on his back with a partially eaten meal. With all your detective skills, does that strike you as plausible?” He replied: “Yes”.

A knife which Police say was found in Mr. Kelly's bag matched a description Darrell gave to detectives.

But an examination by forensic pathologist John Obafunwa showed the knife could not be the murder weapon.

Det. Sgt. Laws admitted that the prosecution did not disclose the existence of the knife to the defence at a preliminary inquiry, when they are supposed to lay out all their evidence.

When asked by Mr. Pettingill if Police told the prosecution about the knife, Det. Sgt. Laws said: “They had the file, it may be overlooked. I can't really speak as to why it just happened to miss us. I missed it and the prosecution missed it. We realised later that we missed it and it showed up later.”

The officer admitted Police had a statement from a woman who testified that she bought Mr. Kelly a KFC meal around 9 p.m..

“Where is Mr. Darrell around 9 p.m.? He's in the emergency room at hospital,” said Mr. Pettingill.

“You have information (from the woman's statement) that she bought him a KFC meal around 9 p.m. and Mr. Kelly is found dead with a partially eaten chicken meal. Did that not cause you concern?”

Det. Sgt. Laws replied: “No. The closed circuit television tapes show Mr. Darrell at the bus terminal walking to Church Street at about 9.15 p.m..”

Mr. Pettingill said it was “arrant nonsense” to say the officer could identify Darrell from the tapes. “You would swear under oath that you could identify Darrell?” he asked.

“To me it looks like Mr. Darrell,” he responded.

Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo produced stills from the tapes timed at 9.15 p.m. on May 31 which Det. Sgt. Laws said showed Darrell walking from the bus station towards Church Street.

The jury was sent home early yesterday while legal arguments were heard and the trial will continue today.