Man goes on trial at Craigavon Crown court accused of threatening to kill a woman prison officer

By Q Radio News

A man in jail for burning a family’s home allegedly threatened to kill a female prison officer and “hunt her family down,” a jury heard today (tues). 

The Craigavon Crown Court jury heard claims that during the incident in June 2018, Roy Kerr asked the PO “do you know what I’m in for” and allegedly threatened to “slice her from head to toe.”

The 42-year-old, originally from Scotland but whose address has been given as c/o Maghaberry Prison, is on trial accused of threatening to kill the prison officer on 13 June 2018, “intending that she would fear it would be carried out.”

Kerr has no legal team and is representing himself in the trial, claiming that the alleged incident simply did not happen. 

Opening the prosecuting case against Kerr, prosecuting counsel Nicola Auret told the jury how the defendant had been in a “safer cell” in Lagan House which meant that he had to be checked on every 15 minutes. 

It was during one of those checks, she told the jury, that Kerr is alleged to have “threatened to slice her with blades and threatened to hunt her family down and kill them too.”

Giving evidence to the jury, the prison officer explained that as part of the routine checks, she had to be able to see Kerr through the upper spy hole but he had covered it in faeces and toilet paper so he could not been seen. 

She told Ms Auret that having turned the cell light on, Kerr said to her to “turn that f****** cell light off now” adding that when she explained “you know I need to get a response every 15 minutes,” Kerr again demanded she turn the light off. 

“He said to me ‘turn that f****** light off - do you know what I’m in here for?’

“I said yes and he then proceeded to say that he would hunt me and my family down and do the same to us. 

 “He also said that the next time he saw me on the landing he would slice me from head to toe,” claimed the officer who said she was left feeling “scared, intimidated.”

Under cross examination from Kerr himself, the officer said that from paper work held on each prisoner, she was aware that Kerr had “set fire to a family house” and was in jail for “arson endangering life.”

She denied the defendant’s suggestion that “you are a liar - this incident did not happen,” telling him that “it did happen, 100% it happened.”

The jury heard the matter was reported to authorities in the prison as well as to the police and that a few weeks later, Kerr allegedly had a conversation with another prison officer where he claimed that he had found out where her colleague lived. 

“He just said he had spoken to someone he knew in Scotland and had made about five phone calls and it didn’t take long to find out who she was and where she lived,” the officer told the jury. 

Kerr also put to this witness that “you are lying - you know her a lot better than you make out” but she refuted that.  

She also denied the defendant’s question “did she ask you to come here today,” telling him simply “no.”

The trial, expected to finish this week, continues.