'Massacre' jury told of defendant's 'lies'

Three generations of the family died in the attack

The man accused of murdering an entire family in south Wales lied to police investigating the killings, a jury has heard.

Former scrap metal dealer David Morris, 39, from Craig Cefn Parc in the Swansea Valley, denies murdering three generations of the same family at their home in nearby Clydach.

He took every opportunity to lie about that chain

Prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC

Invalid grandmother Doris Dawson, 80, her daughter Mandy Power, 34, and her granddaughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, were found dead in the Kelvin Road home early on 27 June 1999.

They had all been beaten to death with an iron pole and left in the house which was set on fire.

Earlier, prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC said the attack was so brutal it could only be described as a "massacre".

On Thursday afternoon, he said David Morris lied about losing his gold chain during the attacks.

The defendant had originally maintained the bloodstained chain, which was found at the murder scene, did not belong to him.

David Morris denies four counts of murder

But Mr Harrington claimed that Mr Morris bought a replacement and tried to modify it to match the damage on the original.

Then four days before the start of the trial, Mr Morris changed his story and said the chain was in fact his.

"He took every opportunity to lie about that chain," said Mr Harrington, who also revealed that Mr Morris had changed his alibi.

The case was adjourned until Monday with the first witness, who will be Sandra Jones, Mandy Power's sister.

Mrs Jones was one of the first people to arrive at the murder scene.

'Orgy of savagery'

On Thursday morning, the court had heard a former policewoman having a lesbian affair with murdered mother-of-two Mandy Power tried to jump to her death from a window when she heard of the killing.

Alison Lewis was eventually admitted to a local psychiatric unit after hearing how her lover and three family members were killed in what the prosecution has described as "orgy of savagery".

But within a year of the killings, she was arrested with her husband on suspicion of murder. Both were later released without charge.

In outlining the case against Mr Morris, Mr Harrington said Mandy Power had become a "sexual adventurer" who indulged in lesbian relationships, after the break-up of her marriage.