ONE of the men accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence says he is "an innocent man" and that he played "no part" in the teenager's death.

In dramatic clashes with prosecutor Mark Ellison QC at the Old Bailey, David Norris, 35, was asked time and time again what he was doing on April 22, 1993, the night Mr Lawrence died.

In apparent exasperation, he declared: "You are accusing me of murder. I am an innocent man."

Although Norris could not recall where he had been, he insisted he was not in the Eltham area the night Mr Lawrence was stabbed to death.

Mr Ellison asked: "How do you know that?"

Norris replied: "Because I am innocent."

Mr Ellison put it to Norris that he had been in the area, and that he and a group of friends had attacked Mr Lawrence that night.

Norris said: "No sir. I played no part in his death whatsoever."

Even when he was arrested two weeks after Mr Lawrence's death, Norris could not remember where he had been that night.

He also denied owning any of the clothing taken by police from his bedroom, with forensic evidence linking it to the attack on Mr Lawrence.

The court heard he had only recently moved into that bedroom at the family home in Chislehurst, and that it had been previously occupied by his brothers.

Norris said at the age of 16, his mother would not have allowed him to be away from his home on a weekday night.

Asked about whether he had a girlfriend named Cheryl in Eltham at the time, Norris said he did not recognise the name.

But Mr Ellison asked him to look at a transcript of a 1999 television interview he did with Martin Bashir. He asked him if he had agreed that it was 50-50 whether he was in Eltham on the night. He said: "No, sir."

Norris said he had never been able to remember what he was doing on the night, but he had not attacked Mr Lawrence. He added: "I had no girlfriend by the name of Cheryl that I can remember."

Mr Ellison read from the transcript: "Interviewer 'On the day in question, as best you can remember, it is most likely you spent some of the day in Eltham?'

"Answer: 'Yes.' Interviewer: 'So you may have been in Eltham with your girlfriend that night?' "Answer: '50 per cent, yeah.'" Mr Ellison asked: "Making things up for TV?" Norris replied: "I don't remember saying it."

Norris's barrister Stephen Batten asked him: "Did you have anything to do with the death of Stephen Lawrence?"

He replied: "Certainly not, sir, no, no."

Mr Batten continued : "Were you in Well Hall Road that night?"

"No, certainly not," replied the unmarried father-of-five.

Mr Batten asked: "Do you know if you were in the company of either of the Acourt brothers, Luke Knight or, for that matter, Gary Dobson that night?"

Again, Norris said "no".

When Mr Batten asked him : "Do you know for a fact where you were?"

Norris said:"I don't, sir, no."

Jurors were also shown covert footage filmed by police of Norris using racist language, calling black people n****rs and speaking of killing and torturing them. Norris told the court he was "ashamed" of his behaviour and that after his initial arrest in 1993, he and his family suffered much abuse.

He said they were sworn at and threatened, and that he was angry at the world.

Norris and Gary Dobson, 36, deny murder.

The trial continues.