Leacock pleads guilty to killing elderly man

Floyd Alan Leacock has admitted to chopping 74-year-old Patrick Barker to death in his home four years ago.

Appearing in the No. 2 Supreme Court on Tuesday, the 51-year-old of Clifton Hill, St Thomas entered a plea of not guilty of murder but admitted to manslaughter.

Outlining the facts, Principal State Counsel Oliver Thomas told the court that Barker, a retired mason, was at his Walkes Spring, St Thomas home with his daughter Kathy-Ann on February 12, 2019, when he told her he heard a window breaking. When she checked, she said it appeared as though someone had hit the window with a small rock. Her cousin next door also called to say she heard something breaking. When Kathy-Ann looked outside, she saw Muck (Leacock) walking up and down with a cutlass calling for Cave Man.

Leacock approached the house and started breaking the glass louvres in the door, and Barker, who was in the living room, shouted at him, asking why he was trying to break into the house.

Leacock then reached through the broken glass, unlocked the door and entered the home, rushing past Kathy-Ann and chopping at the deceased’s head, repeatedly saying, “Ya disrespectful”.

Kathy-Ann said her father raised his hands to protect his head, screaming, “You planning to kill me?”

She then rushed out of the house, seeking assistance from neighbours and family members to help subdue Leacock. Her brother came to the house and found Leacock in his father’s bedroom, still chopping him. The son and other people threw objects to distract Leacock and eventually managed to subdue him and tie him up.

Several neighbours, including Station Sergeant Carson Henry, rendered first aid to Barker and police and an ambulance arrived. However, the elderly man died at the scene.

When he was interviewed at the station, Leacock told the police that he was looking for Cave Man but those in the house would not tell him if he was home. He also said when he broke into the house, everyone was armed with weapons and he was only defending himself by chopping Barker “three or four times”.

A post-mortem-report showed that the elderly man had received over 40 chops to his head, face and arms.

A psychiatric report was conducted on Leacock. It stated that he suffers from chronic schizophrenia and displayed a co-occurring cannabis use disorder where the use of the drug worsens his condition.

He admitted in one of his interviews that when he uses marijuana, he “does trip out” and is filled with rage.

Before the incident, Leacock had been admitted to the Psychiatric Hospital several times.

The matter was adjourned until November 28, 2023.