The chief executive officer of Fort Knox Bermuda Ltd tried to throttle his ex-wife when he found their son at her home, a court heard yesterday.

Troy Eugene Symonds, 43, of Radnor Estate Road, Hamilton Parish, denies a charge of grievous bodily harm against Marion Dyer.

Magistrates' Court heard that Miss Dyer claimed he put his hands around her neck and squeezed. Prosecutor Oonagh Vaucrosson said he also grabbed her by the arms, flung her to the ground, held her against his car and threatened he could kill her.

Mr. Symonds told Senior Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo: "That is absolutely not true."

The assault is alleged to have happened on May 8, 2004 after Mr. Symonds went looking for his son who had "disappeared" from his property.

Earlier that day his ex-wife had dropped the boy off late at his house. That afternoon, he and his new wife were having a wedding photo shoot, which his son decided not to take part in and went off to play.

Mr. Symonds said in evidence that at about 7 p.m. he had searched the dock area and the water at Harrington Sound before finding him at Miss Dyers' house in Harvest Lane, off Radnor Road.

He said his ex-wife told him to go away and that when he attempted to put his hand on his son's shoulder she "jumped across to block I guess me from touching him, pushing me away".

He said he used a "standard defence move" to get her away from him.

"She lost her footing," he said. "Both feet came off the ground and she basically landed on her butt with one hand extended down to the ground. It was a hard fall and I think everybody grimaced when it happened."

He said the incident only lasted about four minutes, after which he left in his car with his son.

His solicitor Delroy Duncan told him: "It's specifically alleged that you put your hands around her neck and proceeded to squeeze her neck while your son witnessed this incident."

Mr. Symonds said that was "absolutely not true" and also denied grabbing her by the arms and flinging her.

Mr. Duncan asked: "Did you push the complainant up against your car with one hand around her throat and your fist one inch away from her eye."

"That's absolutely not true," he replied.

"Did you threaten to kill her in a deadly serious voice," Mr. Duncan asked. "No," said Mr. Symonds.

The assault is alleged to have fractured a bone in Miss Dyer's wrist. Miss Vaucrosson said: "I would argue that it was an unprovoked attack."

But Mr. Duncan said there were inconsistencies in evidence given earlier by Miss Dyer and told Mr. Tokunbo that if he was not sure which version of events to believe, he should acquit Mr. Symonds.

The trial continues today.