Murder case told of missing chain

The court heard that David Morris mentioned a scratch on his face

A former drug dealer said a man accused of killing four members of one family was missing a gold chain he usually wore the day after the murders.

Beverly Williams told Newport Crown Court that David Morris called to buy drugs but was not wearing his chain.

A chain belonging to Mr Morris was found at the murder scene in Clydach.

Mr Morris, 44, of Craig-cefn-parc, near Swansea, denies murdering divorcee Mandy power, 34, her two children and their grandmother in 1999.

Ms Williams told the jury that she saw Mr Morris - whose previous convictions were quashed on appeal - the day after the killings when he called at her house to buy drugs.

She said she did not have any to sell but offered to give him a lift from her home.

Mandy Power, her daughters and her mother were battered to death

She told the court that Mr Morris always wore a gold chain around his neck but on that day he did not have it on. She said she had never seen him without it before.

The prosecution allege that Mr Morris, a former scrap metal dealer, had continually lied to police about the chain which was later found at the murder scene, to cover up his guilt.

Ms Williams also told the jury she had found it odd that he mentioned a scratch on his nose which he told her he had got at work.

Mr Morris, she added, had a violent reputation and that he told her police had been to see him and they would be coming back later.

The prosecution allege that Mrs Power, her daughters Katie, 10, Emily, eight, and grandmother, Doris Dawson, 80, were "massacred" at their home in Kelvin Road in on Sunday 27 June 1999.

Fires were started in the house in Kelvin Road, Clydach

All four had been bludgeoned with an iron bar. Their semi-detached home was then set on fire to cover up evidence.

The jury has already been told that Mr Morris of Craig-cefn-parc, Swansea Valley, had been living with a woman who had been a close friend of Ms Power - a relationship he had never approved of.

At the beginning of the retrial, Patrick Harrington QC claimed the defendant probably exploded into a rage after his sexual advances were spurned.

The trial has also heard evidence from Mrs Power's lesbian lover, former police officer Alison Lewis. She broke down in the witness stand and denied having anything to do with the death.

Her now ex-husband Stephen Lewis - a serving police inspector - has said he knew nothing of their affair until after the killings and he too denied any involvement in the family's murder.

In 2000, the couple were arrested along with Mr Lewis' brother, also a police officer.

All three were released without charge.

The trial continues.