McLean murder trial put off

The absence of attorney-at-law Antoinette Haughton-Cardenas yesterday stalled the murder trial of 39-year-old labourer Michael McLean.



McLean is charged with the brutal murder of six members of a family in St Thomas in February 2006.



Prosecutor Anne-Marie Nembhard told the court that her office made attempts to contact the lawyer but was not successful.



Supreme Court Judge Marjorie Cole Smith said Haughton-Cardenas did not contact the registrar of the court to say why she was absent.



The prosecutor asked the court to assign another lawyer to represent McLean.



McLean told the court that he had made contact three weeks ago with Haughton-Cardenas and had paid her to represent him.



The judge revoked the legal aid assignment, which was granted to Haughton Cardenas because of her failure to contact the court.



McLean who is in custody was ordered to return to the Home Circuit Court on Thursday for another legal aid assignment to be made.



The Crown is alleging that the six persons who were related to McLean\'s girlfriend were murdered between February 25 and 26, 2006 in St Thomas.



McLean is charged with the murder of 28-year-old Patrice George-McCool, 9-year-old Sean Chin Jnr, 3-year-old Lloyd Marshall George McCool and 7-year-old Jihad George McCool.



He is also believed to have killed 9-year-old Jesse O’Gilvie, and 40-year-old Terry-Ann Mohammed, all of Duhaney Pen, St Thomas.