A crime scene investigator agreed with a defence lawyer that the Kellon Hill murder scene could have been contaminated and a Police car may have parked on top of a screwdriver found there.

Civilian forensic support officer Michelle Perinchief told the jury in the case of the five teenagers accused of the murder that she attended the scene on the road leading to Elbow Beach at 12.50 a.m. last August 10.

Mr. Hill, 18, died after he was stabbed leaving a beach party late on the night of August 9.

Prosecutors alleged when opening the case that Kellan Lewis, 17, and Gary Hollis, 16, snatched a gold chain from around Mr. Hill's neck. A fight ensued, and Kevin Warner, 19, Devon Hairston, 18, and a girl, Zharrin Simmons, 17, are alleged to have joined the other two in striking Mr. Hill.

Next, Lewis is alleged to have removed a knife from his pants and stabbed the victim around his chest and body, before Simmons stuck Mr. Hill with a screwdriver. The court heard Mr. Hill stayed on his feet and tried to get away but was struck with a walking cane by Warner who used so much force that it broke. The defendants deny murder and individual charges of possessing weapons.

Describing the scene she encountered when she arrived in the early hours, Ms Perinchief told the trial yesterday: "It was very wet, windy, and the lighting conditions in the area were very poor. When we got there we found numerous people in the area. The officers had blocked off the initial area of the scene and there was several items along the entrance road, Tribe Road Number Four."

The items which she seized as evidence were a gold pendant, a left sneaker and the separate top and bottom halves of a walking cane. The scene was photographed by a Police colleague.

Ms Perinchief also laid markers along a trail of what appeared to be blood. Later that day, in the afternoon, she attended Coral Beach and Tennis Club where her colleague again took photos and she seized a sock found on the grass there.

At 3.50 p.m., Ms Perinchief returned to the public entrance of Elbow Beach and found a red-and yellow-handled screwdriver, a broken black helmet visor, a small black and silver piece of a helmet and black padding from a helmet. These were also seized as evidence.

Asked by prosecutor Robert Welling why she'd not picked the items up in the early hours of that day, the witness replied that this was because the lighting conditions were very poor then. Asked why she didn't see the screwdriver in particular, she replied that a Police vehicle and other private cars were parked at that end of the road.

Ms Perinchief told the court that the two pieces of cane, the sock and the screwdriver were sent to a DNA laboratory in Florida for further examination. She agreed with Simmons' lawyer Mark Pettingill that the scene was bloody, and cross-contamination of the blood onto other items would be a concern.

Ms Perinchief told Mr. Pettingill she had not checked whether the Police car she saw there had arrived before or after the incident. Quizzed again over why she did not spot the screwdriver until her second visit in daylight, Ms Perinchief repeated that the lighting had been bad. However, Mr. Pettingill pressed her: "And because the Police car was parked on top of it as well?"

She replied: "It's a possibility." –After looking at pictures handed to her by Mr. Pettingill, she agreed with his suggestion that there was "a real potential risk" that the Police car was parked on top of the screwdriver, which is why she did not see it.

"It's a pretty obvious item, a red-handled screwdriver?" suggested the lawyer.

"In the daytime, not at night," replied Ms Perinchief.

The case continues.