The man convicted of the brutal murder of three children at Kilancholly, St Mary, in January 2005, became the first person to be sentenced to hang since both Houses of Parliament voted late last year to retain the death penalty.

Jeffrey Perry, 34, security guard, of Kilancholly, was sentenced to hang on all three counts of murder. The children murdered were Dwane Davidson, 15; Sue Ann Gordon 13, and Shadice Williams, four.

The bodies of the three children were found by their mother, Sonia Williams, when she returned from church on the night of January 28, 2005.

A few days later, Perry was taken into police custody after he confessed to the crime and led homicide investigators to the murder weapon.

Perry reportedly told the police that he had been driven by external forces to commit the hideous crimes.

Perry, also called 'Greg', was charged with murder several years ago, but he was freed because of insufficient evidence to link him to the crime.

Senior Puisne Judge Marva McIntosh, in passing sentence yesterday in the Home Circuit, told Perry that he had shown no sign of remorse for what he had done.

A voice

Perry admitted to the police that he had stabbed the children, who were his cousins, several times and slashed their throats. But he said it was a voice that told him to kill.

During the sentencing yesterday, Perry, who is short in stature and clean shaven, showed no sign of emotion. He bowed his head while the submissions were being made.

The Crown, represented by Lisa Palmer Hamilton, senior deputy director of public prosecutions, and Melissa Simms, Crown counsel, led evidence that the offences were committed between January 27 and 28, 2005, at the children's home. A 12-member jury convicted Perry on December 5 last year.

"The manner of execution of the murders was callous, cruel and cold," McIintosh told Perry. The judge said Perry's case was one which was appropriate for the death penalty to be imposed. "Perry, your sentence on each count is that you suffer death in the manner authorised by law," the judge stated.

"I feel justified with the sentence," Michael Williams, father of one of the children and stepfather of the others, told The Gleaner. He said a man like Perry should not go back into society. He disclosed how traumatic and stressful the incident had been for him and also for his wife Sonia Bailey Williams.

Perry's mother, Juliet McEachron, described Perry as her best son. She broke down in tears as she told The Gleaner yesterday how Perry, the eldest of her three sons, took care of her and was very considerate towards her. She said she was very sorry for what had happened to the children.

The social enquiry report, which was read in court, disclosed that members of the community did not want Perry to return. They described him as a threat to society. Some of the residents said if Perry returned, they would take the law into their own hands. His mother said Perry told her that he had sexual desires for the 13-year-old girl and he did not hate the children.

Defence lawyer Linton Walters pleaded with the judge not to impose the death penalty and described Perry as a bright young man. He pointed out that the judges were imposing death sentences but they were not being carried out. He asked the judge to bear in mind evidence given in court that Perry was suffering from a mental disorder.

In response, Ms Palmer said the Crown was calling for the death penalty to be imposed on Perry. She referred to the "calculating manner" in which the murders had been committed and the fact that Perry was a threat to society.

It was in 1988 that Jamaica last hung someone. Executions are not very common in the English-speaking Caribbean. However, St Kitts and Nevis resumed hangings last December, when they executed a man who was found guilty of killing his wife nearly five years earlier. That was the first execution in the English-speaking Caribbean in eight years.