The man accused of importing close to four pounds of cocaine hidden inside his wheelchair took the stand in his defence yesterday .

Throughout his testimony, Jamaican national Patrick Scarlett, 41, maintained that he had no knowledge of the drugs hidden in his chair when he arrived on the Island on October 24 last year.

As his trial reached its third day, the shoemaker told the court how he came to visit Bermuda, a place he had never seen.

"I live in a violent part of Jamaica and I wanted a rest, so my nephew brought me a brochure about Bermuda and suggested that I visit as it was a nice place. He had visited Bermuda himself before."

The accused also said that his nephew also recommended that he stay at the Sonesta Beach Resort as it was easy for a wheelchair to navigate.

He testified that he gave the same nephew 76,000 Jamaica dollars (approximately $2,000 US) to pay for his ticket and his hotel stay.

Scarlett went over the events leading up to his arrival in Bermuda.

"My chair kept hitching, so I asked my nephew if he knew someone who could fix it for me.

"He had the chair for about three days before he brought it back," he said.

When asked by Crown prosecutor Anthony Blackman why he did not know who fixed his chair, the accused indicated that he trusted his nephew to do his business for him all the time.

Mr. Blackman also raised the issue that Scarlett denied knowing Bermuda resident Anthony Dyer when questioned by Police after his arrest.

The accused admitted that he did deny knowing the man initially, because when he heard Police officers saying they were going to arrest Dyer, he did not want an innocent man to get into trouble.

Scarlett revealed that although he did not know Dyer personally, his nephew gave him a description of him so that Dyer could assist him at the airport with getting a taxi.

Several times during cross-examination, Mr. Blackman put to Scarlett that he knew drugs were hidden in his wheelchair.

"I am going to suggest that you knew your wheelchair contained the controlled substance cocaine," he said. Scarlett replied: "No. I didn't know."

"You were to deliver that wheelchair to some person who was to meet you at the hotel...and another chair was to be bought for you to go home with."

"I don't know anything about that," Scarlett insisted. The trial continues today before Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons.