A teenaged boy who claims to have witnessed the fight in which Kellon Hill was killed was grilled yesterday by defence lawyers for the five youths accused of his murder.

It was suggested to 17-year-old Tristan Martin, from Warwick, that it was too dark at the scene near Elbow Beach to have seen the details he'd told the jury about.

Mr. Martin delivered his evidence-in-chief to the trial on June 12. He returned to the witness stand at the Supreme Court yesterday after a lengthy break due to legal arguments and his school exams.

Mr. Hill, 18, was stabbed to death as he left a party at Elbow Beach late last August 9. Five teenagers stand charged with murder and possessing various weapons charges they deny.

Prosecutors alleged when opening the case that Kellan Lewis, 17, and Gary Hollis, 16, snatched a gold chain from around Mr. Hill's neck. A fight ensued, and Kevin Warner, 19, Devon Hairston, 18, and a girl, Zharrin Simmons, 17, are alleged to have joined the other two in striking Mr. Hill.

Next, Lewis is alleged to have removed a knife from his pants and stabbed the victim around his chest and body, before Simmons stuck Mr. Hill with a screwdriver. The court heard Mr. Hill stayed on his feet and tried to get away but was struck with a walking cane by Warner who used so much force that it broke.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons reminded the jury how Mr. Martin had, earlier this month, described witnessing a fight that night on the road leading to Elbow Beach. He told the jury at that time: "I saw Gary fighting with Kellon Hill at first, then eventually they all joined in with whatever they had."

Mr. Martin elaborated by stating that he was referring to five people in total. As he made his way over to what was happening, he saw some helmets swung, which he believed made contact with Mr. Hill three times.

He explained that Hollis, who was fighting with Mr. Hill, was "short and brown" and he'd seen him before, although he did not know where. Mr. Hill was a friend he'd known since March last year.

After the helmets, he said, he saw a cane used against Mr. Hill. He could not say who wielded the cane, which swung overarm to hit Mr. Hill twice on the head, as he fought back and tried to hold his own.

Mr. Martin said after the cane, "Kellan jumped in, then the girl jumped in, and by the time I got there it was all over. I was not too far from them."

The witness explained that the girl came up behind Mr. Hill.

"She had something in her hands. Whatever it was, it got him three times on his left side," he told the jury. He described the object in her hands as "like a silver little point or whatever" which was the length of a pen or pencil and held in her right hand.

"She poked him with it three times in his left side," he said.

After she "poked" Mr. Hill, the witness said, the girl took off towards the beach. Mr. Martin told the court he went on to push two people off of Mr. Hill, who he believed to be Hairston and Lewis. He knew the latter from Berkeley Institute, where they were in different years. Mr. Martin did not see anything in Lewis' hand.

He explained that he followed Lewis, Hollis, Simmons and Hairston down to the beach. As he did so, he saw the item the girl had in her hand a couple of yards from where he'd seen her with it, lying on the ground by a fence. He saw the four people on the beach making off at a jogging pace. He then returned to Mr. Hill, who "wasn't doing too good".

Under cross examination yesterday from Hollis' lawyer Saul Froomkin QC, Mr. Martin agreed that the persons he referred to as 'Kellan' and 'Gary' were using their fists in the fight. He agreed that in a Police statement on August 11 last year, he described seeing a silver Nolan brand helmet on the ground before he pushed the pair off Mr. Hill.

Hairston's lawyer, Jerome Lynch QC, put it to Mr. Martin that he did not see him doing "anything at all" at the fight. Mr. Martin agreed, and further agreed that he does not know Hairston well. He agreed with Mr. Lynch that he may have confused him with another man present at the scene.

He denied the lawyer's suggestions that the spot he identified to the jury on a photograph as the scene of the fight was "quite wrong", insisting "that's where I remember it happening". He also disagreed with Mr. Lynch's assertion that it was so dark in the lane that he could not see what was happening.

Simmons' lawyer Mark Pettingill quizzed Mr. Martin over a street lamp that was off when a Police photograph was taken of the scene. Mr. Pettingill did not specify when the photograph was taken.

The witness said the lamp was on during the incident. When the lawyer put it to him that the whole fight lasted less than 30 seconds he replied: "Yeah, about that."

However, when asked follow up questions by prosecutor Michael McColm, he said he did not know how long it lasted.

The case continues.