You now have to decide if he meant to kill her, defence tells jury

DARREN McKie’s defence barrister told the jury the only question they have to ask themselves is if he intended to kill his wife.

In his closing speech, Trevor Burke QC, defending, began his closing speech on behalf of Darren McKie.

He told the jury his client ‘acknowledges his responsibility for Leanne’s death’, reminding them he had admitted manslaughter.

But the barrister added ‘there is but one question’ for the jury to answer.

He added: “What did the defendant intend when he assaulted Leanne during the course of that assault and she met her untimely death?

“That’s the sole issue here. The prosecution case is simplicity itself. Murder. Nothing else. So they are required, as you appreciate, to prove it so that each and every one of you is sure of it.”

Raising his voice, Mr Burke continued: “They have to prove that in the minute or so that led to her death Darren wanted rid of her. Dead. Wanted her dead. Intended her dead, and did it with that intention in mind. Brutally cold. Ruthless murder. That’s the prosecution case.

“All of you must be satisfied so that you have no doubt it. You must be sure.”

He said the prosecution had to prove that Darren McKie ‘intended her really, really serious injury’.

The barrister said there had been a struggle and ‘an attempt to silence’ Leanne, and adding: “And she met her unfortunate death which was the very last thing Darren McKie would have wished, wanted or intended.”

He added that the McKies had always lived beyond their means, but were ‘on the brink’ of sorting out their financial difficulties, with a £54,000 loan nearing completion.

He said: “It was a way of life for them. It was just the way it was. They had survived in the past.

“The added tragedy here is that they were on the brink of sorting it out.”

The trial continues