A man on trial for robbing Woody's Drive Inn in Sandys Parish has claimed that someone else was driving his car around the time of the incident.

Randolph Lightbourne told a Supreme Court jury he was at his parents' Sound View Road home until shortly after 1 a.m. on December 22, 1995 -- when the robbery occurred.

Lightbourne, 31, of Devon Springs Road, Devonshire, has denied robbing Woody's Drive Inn and wounding bar manager Owen Trott with an intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The trial resumes today.

Lightbourne took the stand in his own defence yesterday and told the 11-woman, one-man jury that he had gotten in an argument with his wife earlier in the evening about his drinking.

He told of driving to various homes throughout the parish looking for various friends and in-laws, before going to his parents' home. Lightbourne said he called his wife, just after midnight, "to settle the air''. While on the phone, a neighbour -- whom he did not name -- interrupted the conversation and asked to borrow the car to take his girlfriend home.

Lightbourne said he agreed to loan him the car and continued the conversation with his wife. He also claimed he "dozed off'' while watching television.

He added that he awoke after 1 a.m. and waited outside until the neighbour returned. After joking with the man, he said he left for his home in Devonshire. Earlier, Crown Counsel Patrick Doherty called King Edward VII Memorial Hospital's emergency director Edward Schultz to interpret the medical report of Dr. Dean Okerekee who examined Mr. Trott on December 22.

Mr. Trott had a two-centimetre cut on the upper right side of his back and a three-by-five-centimetre cut over his chin.

He also had a similar sized cut in the skin between his thumb and index finger. Leading investigator, Det. Insp. Legay Farley, told the court he summoned two Policemen who had seen Lightbourne's Mazda near Watford Bridge as they made their way to Woody's. Det. Insp. Farley said he called the Policemen into the interview room at Somerset Police Station after he had read Lightbourne's statements and noted Lightbourne did not mention being on Boaz Island or Watford Bridge.

"P.c. Simon Payne told the accused he noted down the number of the car in the palm of his hand,'' Det. Insp. Farley said. "He showed the accused his left hand where the number 27389 was written in ink.'' Det. Insp. Farley added that after P.c. Payne and his partner, P.c. David Gillies, left the room Lightbourne said: "There must have been a lot of cars and bikes on the road at the time. Why are they picking on me? Is it because I'm Randy Lightbourne?''