Britney Clarke, the daughter of slain accountant Keith Clarke, on Thursday refuted a suggestion that her father, who was shot on May 27, 2010 by members of the security forces, endangered his family by harbouring then fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke and seven of his henchmen at the family house at Kirkland Close in Red Hills, St Andrew.

At the time, a manhunt was launched to nab Coke, who was wanted in the United States on guns and weapons charges. He was eventually captured and extradited to the US where he is currently serving a 23-year sentence in a federal prison.

Clarke, who is the second witness in the trial of three Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldiers charged with murder in relation to the death of her father, denied the suggestion by King’s Counsel Valerie Neita-Robertson that Dudus and other criminals were hiding inside the family house at her father’s invitation.

Neita-Robertson is representing Lance Corporal Greg Tingling, who is one of the three soldiers on trial. The other two soldiers are Lance Corporal Odel Buckley and Private Arnold Henry.

The attorney made the stinging suggestion to the witness after she told the lawyer that she is “still seeking answers” that could explain why her father was shot more than 20 times, including in the back.

“Your father exposed you and your mother to criminals who he hid in his house. You asked for an explanation, so that is it,” Neita-Robertson said.

Clarke responded that that was “absolutely far from the truth” and urged Neita-Robertson to speak the truth.

Neita-Robertson prompted Clarke to say whether she had knowledge of any criminals being outside the family house while the operation by the security forces was unfolding.

“I don’t know what occurred outside of the house. The house was being attacked and I was trying to survive. That was my number one priority. At no point did I say I was outside,” Clarke replied.

Neita-Robertson again suggested to the witness that criminals had been hiding inside her house, particularly in the basement.

However, Clarke told the attorney that she needed to provide facts and not just make suggestions.

“Madam, I gave you facts on Wednesday,” Neita-Robertson shot back, explaining to the witness that she had raised the point previously about unmatched blood that had been found in two different places inside the house.

Clarke responded that what Neita-Robertson had suggested was “impossible”.

The attorney suggested to the witness that she never knew who was in her basement because she went to bed after taking a bubble bath.

Clarke replied that she definitely knew who was in her house because the place had been locked up. She added that the soldiers had to cut off grilles to enter the house, stating that alone was proof that nobody had been inside the house with the family.

Neita-Robertson responded, “So when persons are in the basement, having been let inside to hide so that police and soldiers cannot see them, you expect that they would leave the doors open? In other words, your answer is a silly answer. If men are in your house they would lock the doors, so that means the police would have to break them down.

“I am suggesting to you that the police and soldiers were at your premises because Dudus and gunmen were at your house. I am going to suggest to you that gunmen were seen outside your house at the back and that those men fired at the military helicopter,” Neita-Robertson said.

“I wasn’t outside. That doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Clarke responded. “Could you just stop this? Madam, speak the truth. What I know is that no one else was in my house at that time apart from my family.”