Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh began her summation to the jury yesterday at the trial of 35-year-old security guard Jeffrey Perry, who is charged with the murder of three children at Killancholly, St Mary, in January 2005.

The judge told the 12 members of the jury that they must come to their decision purely on the evidence they heard in court. She advised them not to have any sympathy for the accused or for the family of the deceased.

The trial began on November 17 in the Home Circuit Court. The Crown, represented by Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Crown Counsel Melissa Simms, led evidence that Perry fatally stabbed the children at their home in Killancholly between January 17 and January 28, 2005.

Accused cried for help

Defence lawyer Linton Walters, in his address to the jury, said Perry was not challenging the caution statement which he gave to the police on February 8, 2005. He said Perry admitted committing the triple murder, but from the outset, Perry told the police that he wanted help.

He said the doctors called by the prosecution said Perry was suffering from mental illness.

He told the jurors that Perry was a man crying out for help and they had a duty to give him that help.

Senior Deputy DPP Lisa Palmer Hamilton, in addressing the jurors, told them to judge if the Crown had proven its case that it was Perry who went into the house on January 27 or 28, 2005, and murdered the children.

The judge will continue her summation when the trial resumes today in the Home Circuit Court.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com