An off-duty Policeman told a jury of how a gang launched repeated attacks on a man with knives, machetes and sticks in an orgy of violence at Wellington Oval last April.

Detective Constable Garic Swainson gave evidence yesterday in the trial of three men accused of attempted murder of Tariq Foster at the football stadium last year.

The jury heard that Mr. Foster was attacked by a mob several times during the mayhem.

Ki-Roy Kinta Butterfield, 27, of Cherry Hill Park, Paget, Jahcai Morris, 24, Sylvan Dell, Paget, and Tahir Nesta Bascome, 22, of Dunscombe Road, Warwick, have all all denied attempted murder.

The three have also pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and to going armed in public so as to cause terror.

The trio also each denied possessing an offensive weapon with Butterfield and Morris accused of having knives and Bascome a machete while Butterfield has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted wounding on Everest Trott.

Yesterday in Supreme Court Dc Swainson said he was at the stadium to watch the Friendship Trophy final and an earlier game when he saw a fight erupt by the scoreboard 20 minutes into the game.

He said he saw ten to 15 guys throwing punches and kicks as the fighting spilled over to the field.

As he called 911 on his mobile he moved for a better view and saw a man brandishing a long piece of wood, a man with a silver machete, a man wielding a stick and a man with knife or stick.

He saw a man clubbed to the ground with the piece of wood but as the victim lay prone the man with the plank was challenged by a man with a machete.

People continued to run toward the fight, said Dc Swainson, as he reported the unfolding horror to colleagues at St. George?s Police station.

Four or five men then attacked the man with the wood. ?Two men were holding him on each side as others punched and kicked him.?

The fight moved to the rear of the scoreboard but Dc Swainson?s eye was drawn to a man lying on the ground being kicked and punched by three men while a man in a white T-shirt and black and white baseball cap hacked at the man?s back with a machete.

?The person who was doing the chopping had his back to me. He was chopping at the upper section of his body, his head and shoulders,? he said.

?The person on the ground was curled up in a ball with his knees to his chest and his arms up around his head.?

Dc Swainson, who later recognised the victim as Tariq Foster, said he saw two or three chops, with the attacker raising the two-foot long weapon above his head before swiping down as the attackers worked as a team to inflict blows.

?After the first time, he stepped back and the other two assaulted the man on the ground. Then he went back a second time and chopped him.?

He said the machete man ran off as his victim was helped to his feet and walked quickly towards the concession stand but was again pursued.

Dc Swainson moved to the bleachers to see if another fight would break out and saw Mr. Foster being attacked in the parking lot by men with weapons.

He saw Mr. Foster thrown to the ground from a position 20 feet away.

?They continued to beat Tariq profusely with a baseball bat, the machete and kicks and punches,? he said.

?They were taking turns with these attacks and this was just the first set of attacks in the area.

?I could clearly see what was going on, he was struck six or seven times with the machete.?

A flurry of kicks and punches were launched.

Dc Swainson said he recognised the victim as Tariq Foster as he is the brother of a good friend of his.

Again Mr. Foster was curled up with his hand covering his head until the attack subsided and Kumar Smith helped him up along with a number of women.

Then Mr. Foster, who was bleeding from head wounds, was attacked again as his friends backed away.

?He was forced to the ground by the same four men who had attacked him behind the bleachers. When he fell to the ground they chopped at him a number of times with a machete.

?And then the second man who was carrying a baseball bat continued to beat him about the body. One time he hit him in the head so hard with the bat, it came off from his hands.

?This man climbed over Tariq?s body in order to recover the bat, the punches and kicks continued.

?He was assisted again by Kumar and the ladies to his feet.?

As Mr. Foster made his way to the cricket club porch he was attacked yet again by a man wielding a gothic-style knife with many edges, testified Dc Swainson.

?This man slashed at Tariq, hitting him in the lower back area.? He described the knifeman as having very short hair with a design shaved in and wearing a white T-shirt.

At the opening of the trial, the court heard that Mr. Foster was put in hospital with wounds to his head, neck, torso, hand and arm.

The trial, in front of a six-man and six-woman jury, resumes today.