The trial of the two men charged with the murder of elderly Manchester couple Richard and Julia Lyn is to continue with an 11-member jury, as one of the jurors is ill.

A medical certificate was submitted yesterday by the juror who had reported sick on Tuesday. Lennox Swaby, 29, farmer and taxi driver of Hopeton district, Manchester, and Calvin Powell, 26, garbage truck driver of New Green Manchester, have been on trial in the Home Circuit Court since October 5.

Yesterday, Dr Maurice Lyn, son of the deceased, testified that on December 15, 2006, he called his father's mobile telephone and someone answered. He said he informed the police and a recording device was attached to the telephone.

He said he called his father's telephone and the person who answered made a demand for a ransom of $7 million for the safe return of his parents. He said when he asked to speak to his parents the person he was speaking to on the telephone said they were all right.

Receiving medication

Dr Lyn said the person said he had the wrong Mrs Lyn, but since he had his parents he could not let them go without the ransom. He said his mother had heart surgery in August 2006, and the person assured him that she was getting her medication.

Dr Lyn said that on December 13, 2006, he gave a DNA swab at the government forensic laboratory. He identified in court items of jewellery belonging to his mother and a locket with his parents' photographs and photographs of his sister and himself, which he said his mother wore on a chain around her neck. Dr Lyn, who lives in the United States, said he sent his parents' dental records to the police in Jamaica.

A building contractor and a mason testified that Powell used to work on a construction site in front of the Lyns' house up to April 2006.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com