Government backbencher Arthur Pitcher yesterday took the stand to deny allegations that he assaulted a worker on his construction site in Southside - and said he had acted out of self-defence.

The 51-year-old, who has denied assaulting labourer Ryan Fox at the affordable housing development in August last year, claimed both Mr. Fox and prosecution witness Anthony Foggo had lied to the court while giving evidence.

He told Magistrates' Court that he had not flown into a rage and thrown Mr. Fox against a wall, as claimed by both witnesses earlier in the hearing, and said he had merely pushed him in self-defence during a disagreement over an unfinished assignment.

But he said he did not believe he had pushed him hard enough to make him stumble and fall to the ground, and suggested that Mr. Fox, from St. David's, had been putting on an act to make the situation look worse.

Pitcher said: "I think they (Mr. Fox and Mr. Foggo) got together and orchestrated their testimonies, so that they could come to court and it would be their word against mine."

Magistrate Will Francis asked why Mr. Fox and Mr. Foggo would make up such stories, committing perjury, and said if it was true, it would be a terrible thing.

Mr. Pitcher replied: "It is, Sir. But, I don't think it's beyond their characters to do that."

The MP said claims by Mr. Foggo in court that they were long-time friends, was simply not true.

And he said Mr. Foggo, who was a carpenter at the site, had been let go because he was unable to carry out tasks on the project that were demanded by the latest construction systems being used.

Mr. Fox told the court last month how he had been instructed to complete some wiring work by Pitcher, but had then been asked to help one of the masons on the site.

He said when his boss returned at lunchtime, he was resting in one of the rooms, but he denied he was asleep.

He claimed Pitcher had flown into a rage because he had not finished his task, and had thrown him about 16 feet across the room, injuring his neck.

He then told the court that Pitcher had dragged him outside and told him he was sacked.

The court heard how Mr. Fox still had wires and plates in his neck after fracturing three vertebrae, causing partial paralysis, in a car accident in 1995.

After the alleged incident last year, Mr. Fox was detained in hospital for several days and treated for a sprained neck, which specialist orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Banagal Chevlam told the court it could have been caused by a whiplash motion, possibly as a result of being pushed.

However, he said without the initial injury to his neck, the push probably would not have caused the subsequent sprain.

Yesterday, the Progressive Labour Party MP, who is being represented by Government Senator and lawyer Michael Scott, said it did not happen that way.

He said he had returned to the site at lunchtime to find Mr. Fox asleep in one of the rooms, and the small task not completed, which had pushed the schedule back.

Pitcher said he finished the job himself and then walked passed the room where Mr. Fox was sleeping, but he soon awoke.

He said: "I told him 'I don't pay you to sleep on the job'. I had no idea how long he had been sleeping. I asked 'why have you not done what I told you'?

"My demeanour then was at it is now. I was ignoring him at that point. He started to say things about what he was doing, and I said I was not interested in what he had to say because sometimes when people gave him instructions he just went off and did what ever he felt like."

Pitcher said he then went to look for a foreman, and claimed Mr. Fox was screaming "profanities" at him, including calling him a f****** bald-headed bastard.

The accused said he also went to a couple of workers to hand out instructions, but claimed Mr. Fox went into his face again, screaming at him and telling him he could not fire him.

And demonstrating to the court, Pitcher claimed Mr. Fox had gone up into his space and motioned as though to throw a punch.

Pitcher said: "When he came up into my face a second time he made a motion towards me. Not knowing if he had anything in his hand, I pushed him out of my face.

"He lost his balance. I heard him say I pushed him 16 feet", but Pitcher said Mr. Fox had stumbled only about six to eight feet away, and said he had hit the ground next to a wall, not the wall itself.

"I told him to leave," added Pitcher.

"He came back at me and said I could not get him off the property because it was Government property. I said 'then you are fired'.

"When he came back at me, I gripped him by his two forearms and told him to get off the property."

Pitcher said he pulled Mr. Fox by the arms towards the door.

Pitcher said he had always given Mr. Fox a break because he knew he had a bad leg which caused him to limp, and said he had a young child.

He said it had never, at first, been his intention to fire him that day.

But prosecutor Oonagh Vaucrosson asked why Pitcher had pushed Mr. Fox when he knew he had a condition that caused him to limp.

Pitcher responded: "To get him out of my face. After he had fallen he jumped right back up and came back at me."

Mrs. Vaucrosson responded: "He's rather nimble for someone with a limp."

And Mrs. Vaucrosson said Pitcher had told the court he only pushed Mr. Fox once, however, in his statement to Police he had admitted to pushing him twice.

Pitcher said the first time was more of a brushing past Mr. Fox, rather than a push.

The case continues today.