Newly discovered evidence reported by The Guardian points even more strongly to the conviction of Jeremy Bamber being a potential miscarriage of justice as the ‘Bamber Files‘ throw up more information about the initial investigation and his conviction over 40 years ago.
Files disclosed to Bamber’s campaign team by Essex police and shared with The Guardian shed more light on inconsistencies in the case related to phone calls made from White House Farm and by Bamber in the minutes before the murders of five of his family members took place.
At trial it was alleged that Jeremy Bamber phoned police from White House Farm before murdering his sister and her two children, as well as his mother and father, before cycling home to his cottage, where another phonecall was made to police. Much was made at trial as to the feasability of this timeline.
Police phone logs now available appear to prove an alternative theory, that Jeremy’s father, Nevill, phone police from White House Farm to say his daughter had ‘gone beserk’ and had his gun, in the interim phoned Jeremy to tell him the same, and he then also phoned police ten minutes later. Separate call logs showing calls at 3:26am and 3:36am now seem to support this, in particular references to Sheila Cafell, Bamber’s sister, first as ‘daughter’ then ‘sister’ in the records that police officers made.
If Nevill bamber did indeed phone police at 3:26am, this would put Bamber in the clear.
Simon Hattenstone, who has followed the case for many years, wrote in The Guardian that ‘those convinced of Bamber’s guilt maintain that Nevill Bamber’s calls to his son and the police never happened’. He then relays the first statements that Bamber made to Essex Police when he was arrested and subject to an 11 hour interrogation: ‘He suggests there is one easy way of settling the issue. Get hold of British Telecom’s records. Bamber is apparently convinced this will provide him with an alibi and prove that he is telling the truth. If his father never called him, this is a kamikaze defence. All Essex Police need do is check BT’s records, and if there isn’t a call from White House Farm, he has implicated himself.’
As it happens, Essex Police told him those itemised telephone records did not exist, so BT couldn’t provide them.
Hattenstone reveals again a shocking aspect of this case, that so much evidence was lost or destroyed both by police teams traipsing through the murder scene in the hours and days immediately afterwards, and it the years hence. ‘As so often in Bamber’s case, the document listing the evidentiary material and whether it was to be filed or destroyed is incomplete. Here it starts at number 167 and finishes at 661. At numbers 598 and 599, it says “British Telecom extract of calls”, citing the telephone numbers for Bamber’s home and White House Farm. By the side of both entries, it says “Destroy”.’
