Peterborough prison murder accused tells court he was victim's '˜only true friend'

A prisoner who killed his cell mate at HMP Peterborough has told a court he was his victim's only true friend in the jail.
HMP Peterborough EMN-150912-163117009HMP Peterborough EMN-150912-163117009
HMP Peterborough EMN-150912-163117009

Jordan Palmer has admitted killing Terence Ojuderie in the cell the pair shared on December 9 last year.

Palmer (26) denies murdering the 42-year-old.

He took to the witness stand on Monday, where he told the jury the pair would talk about their problems in cell number 27 on Cavell Wing.

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He said: “We would talk about visits. He felt bad for leaving his partner, I used to tell him my problems. Everything was alright, it was OK. I was his only true friend. I could talk to him, others would want off him. He was soft like that.”

Palmer used a flat screen TV to kill Ojuderie at about 1.30am in what was described as a ‘frenzied’ attack. The jury were shown the TV used, which had been broken in two in the incident. Ojuderie suffered horrific injuries in the attack, and the cell and Palmer were left covered in blood.

Palmer told the jury he could not remember anything about the incident. He said he recalled feeling unwell a few minutes before the attack.

Palmer claims he was affected by inhaling a drug called spice - a type of synthetic cannabis he said Ojuderie smoked.

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Palmer said he had smoked the drug once before, when he was in HMP Nottingham.

He said: “It (spice) scared the life out of me. My heart was racing, I was pacing up and down. I just wanted to press the buzzer. I was panicking, and had to lie down on my front to calm my breathing down. “I decided it was not for me.”

He told the court he had never smoked the drug again.

Abbas Lakha QC, defending, told the court there were incidents at HMP Durham and Manchester where prison guards had felt ill as a result of secondary inhalation of spice by inmates. He said there were no records that were kept of prisoners who had suffered similar problems, and records of other prison officers who may have suffered issues had not been kept.

The trial continues.