As closing arguments were heard in the attempted murder trial of Allan William Daniels yesterday, defence lawyer John Perry QC claimed: “The prosecution case is rotten to the core.”

He added: “It is rooted in mistakes, involves suppression and manipulation of evidence and there are downright lies.”

But Crown Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney countered by telling the jury the defendant was a “self-confessed liar” who only offered the court a “Shaggy defence” - in other words, ‘It wasn't me' - and the jury should sentence him accordingly.

Daniels, 26, of Brooklyn Lane, Pembroke, denies charges of attempting to murder Det. Con. Warren Bundy on February 12, 2004. He also denies charges of using a firearm to resist arrest, possession of ammunition without a licence, possession of $73,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mr. Perry was first to address the jury yesterday. “The defendant has got to prove nothing,” he said.

Mr. Perry said there were several irregularities in the Police investigation of his client and he denied that Daniels ever intended to kill Det. Con. Bundy.

Daniels has admitted to being in possession of the gun - a Ruger 9-mm semi-automatic.

While the prosecution claimed throughout the trial that Daniels had possession of the gun before the morning of his arrest and that he used it with the intent to kill, yesterday Mr Perry said that if Daniels had possessed the gun before that morning he would have known how it worked and whether it contained ammunition.

Perry also questioned the Police handling of Daniels' jacket - in which the gun, drugs, money and keys were allegedly found.

Mr. Perry said the jacket was not labelled, not bagged and wasn't taken by Police to be secured as was every other item of clothing from Daniels.

“The jacket was available for every Tom, Dick and Harry to have access to,” he said.

Despite the importance of the jacket, Mr. Perry said that according to Police entries, two days after the jacket was in custody was the first time anything was written about it.

The defence lawyer also raised the Police handling of the keys for Daniels' BMW.

While Police originally said they had the keys to Daniels' car, when they went to open it, they did not. Police later changed their story to say they had Daniels' bike keys in custody, he said.

Mr. Perry told the jury that Sgt. Arthur Glasford said he got possession of the car keys on February 13 and gave them to Det. Con. Don DeSilva on February 14.

According to the jailer's log, however, there is no entry showing that Sgt. Glasford got the keys, he said, and there is also no record of Sgt. Glasford giving the keys to Det. Con. DeSilva.

Mr. Perry wondered why the keys were not properly labelled and bagged and why they were not available to open the car.

While the Prosecution claimed that Daniels had $400 on him when he was arrested, Mr. Perry questioned what had happened to that money as Police records now say there was $210 in custody.

Mr. Perry asked where the missing $190 was. He told the jury that there was no record of the missing money because there isn't any more money.

Mr. Perry also told the jury that the Police notes on the case were not available to the defendant until May 5, despite repeated requests.

“The Prosecution case is rotten to the core,” he said in conclusion.

Prosecutor Carrington Mahoney, however, implored that the jury use their common sense when reviewing the evidence.

“You have to rely on your common sense, experience of life in Bermuda today, observe witnesses and the accused,” Mr. Mahoney said.

He said the defence was deceiving the jury.

“The defence is what you call the Shaggy defence - ‘It Wasn't Me',” said Mr. Mahoney referring to the popular reggae artist and song.

Mr. Mahoney said Daniels' testimony failed to add up if the jury paid attention to the time sequences he cited.

He also pointed that the evidence Daniels gave in the witness box had several differences from statements he made earlier to Police such as his claim in testimony that Police had assaulted him - which was never made previously.

The defendant is a “self-confessed liar”, he said.

Mr. Mahoney also questioned how Daniels paid for his expensive lifestyle, citing a number of costly purchases made over a two-year period - including a BMW, a Louis Vuitton bag and a Rolex - while he also managed to accumulate savings of over $50,000.

Mr. Mahoney said couldn't understand how the defendant had acquired so much money in such a short period of time.

While Daniels denied any knowledge of where drugs found by Police might have come from, he readily claimed money found in the same location, the Prosecutor added.

Mr. Mahoney said Daniels' offences were a “blatant attack on the law and order”.

“Justice does not only require the innocent to not pay for crimes they didn't commit but also requires that the guilty pay for crimes they did commit,” he said.

The jury is expected to reach verdict when the trial resumes today in Supreme Court.