Kenneth Burgess, one of the men convicted of murdering twins Jahmal and Jahmil Cooper in 2005, has been given permission by Westgate Correctional Facility staff to spend a portion of Valentine’s Day at home with his wife and son, The Royal Gazette understands.

Sources said yesterday that after eight years of incarceration and serious consideration of his record, security, and family circumstances, Burgess was deemed eligible for a home visit in order to celebrate his 14th wedding anniversary with his wife and son.

Burgess will be supervised by a corrections officer at all times during the visit, which is said to last only a few hours.

The Royal Gazette understands the visit was approved by senior staff following an application from his wife some weeks ago, requesting a Home and Family visit. The request was only granted after ‘serious consideration of the inmate’s record, security and family circumstances’.

Home Visits, according to one source, have been granted in the past to well-behaved prisoners compliant with security programmes and policies, and “where exceptional circumstances prevail”, often used as incentives to promote positive changes in prisoner conduct.

The visits are viewed by the prison system as a ‘very powerful tool in inmates making positive changes to their thinking and lifestyles’.

Burgess was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2006, for the double killing of the Cooper twins in a sickening baseball bat attack. Burgess was jailed along with accomplice Dennis Robinson, who helped dispose of the bodies.