Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

Psychiatrist Dr. Arlene McGill testified yesterday that five weeks after 31-year-old security guard Jeffrey Perry allegedly stabbed to death three children at Kilancholly, St. Mary, she examined him and found that he was fit to plead.

On the other hand Dr. Herbert Wieder, a psychiatrist, testified for the defence on Monday that when he examined Perry in July and September last year, he came to the conclusion that Perry was not fit to plead.

A seven-member jury was empanelled in the Home Circuit Court on Monday to hear evidence from psychiatrists to determine whether Perry was fit to plead and to follow proceedings at his triple murder trial.

Fatally stabbed

It is being alleged that Perry, who is a cousin of the children, fatally stabbed them at their home on January 28, 2005. The deceased are 15-year-old Dwane Davidson, 13-year-old Sue Ann Gordon and four-year-old Shadice Williams.

Dr. McGill said she examined Perry at the Port Maria Hospital, St. Mary, on March 8, 2005. She found that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder with chronic depression. She said it meant that Perry was suffering from a complex anxiety disorder characterised by emotional disturbances and flashbacks to traumatic incidents. She said too that Perry had brief periods of psychosis when he was detached from reality and had some obsessional thoughts associated with compulsions.

The doctor said that as a result of her observation and assessment, she came to the conclusion that Perry was fit to plead and had the state of mind to follow court proceedings and to advise his lawyers. She said she prescribed an anti-depressant for him.

Cross-examined by attorney-at-law Carlene McFarlane, who is representing Perry, she said the police sneaked Perry into the hospital to avoid crowd turmoil.

The manner in which he was taken to the hospital with his face covered could put him in an anxious state. Post-traumatic stress disorder, she said, was defined as an anxiety disorder. She said further that when she spoke with Perry, she was able to determine that he had periods of psychosis when he was detached from reality.