Corruption Revealed in Private Reports of Key Police Officers

"As everyone who follows the case will know, during the past eighteen months I’ve been cross referencing every aspect of the evidence, hunting out all of the anomalies within the case documentation and I would like to thank everyone who has been helping me do all of this work. Between our team we have read, reviewed, examined and made an assessment of almost three and a half million pages of case material.  All the necessary work has been completed and we have the answers to all of the outstanding questions that remained after the last review of the evidence by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

It was surprising and quite unexpected to have discovered the truth about police corruption in this case, which was extensively documented in the private notes and reports written by Former DCI Ainsley, DS Jones and DI Miller. 

Originally the only documents provided to the Defence were just signed witness statements and a transcript of their trial testimony. I was lucky enough to be given every possible piece of paperwork that related to every one of the investigations into the case that took place between 1985 and 2013 – although still excluding much of the original case number. We are still missing all sorts of documents and photographs, but the fact that Essex Police have withheld this list of materials says more about how corrupt they still are, than it does about the evidence that they think is still being completely concealed from us.

For example there is no witness statement from a forensic ‘Scenes of Crime’ police officer who arrived at White House Farm at 9:16am on the morning of the 7^th of August 1985. He entered the house and left the scene at 12:50 but Essex police have failed to tell the courts over the years that a police officer was stationed on Pages Lane recording details of everyone who arrived at the farm, their rank and the police station they were from (if they were police officers). The courts were also not told that two officers were tasked with listing every person, both police and civilian who entered the house between 07:35 and 09:58. All of these people were required to give elimination fingerprints and to give details about the rooms they entered, what they moved or touched and the reasons they entered the house that day.  

This particular forensic officer had been based at Chelmsford HQ and is now known to have been part of the team who forensically examined the house on the 7^th of August 1985. The simple fact that this officer made no statements and has left hardly any trace of his existence in the case, suggests that his presence was concealed for a reason – although what this reason was is unknown. The jury were entitled to know about his actions inside the house, including any evidence he gathered, his role that day and a statement of his actions and any further actions he carried out as a result of his work at the scene.

It was also a surprise to discover that various key witnesses, police and civilians, wrote out statements in draft form which were then altered and corrected with key material omitted which would have aided my Defence. For example one of my cousins and one of the scenes of crimes police officers wrote five different draft statements before the final copy was made. These particular statements are full of conflicting versions of events revealing how Essex Police created witnesses statements to tally with pieces of evidence they wanted to make significant in the case so that circumstances surrounding the evidence were ficticiously constructed.

It is not possible to go into closer detail about the evidence we now have about all of the above and many other issues, but had the Chief Crown Prosecutor known a fraction of this evidence then he would not have agreed to me being arrested and charged. Eventually every aspect of this case will be public including details about how the jury were misled into believing the house was not securely locked when they were presented with photographs taken after the initial SOCO photographing of the house aided with inaccurate evidence from police and my cousins.

It is only because former police officers kept their personal notes and files from being destroyed illegally in 1996 that we are able to piece together the information into the bigger picture. Some officers were not all bad, just stupid because we now have the proof of how the jury was completely misled by the police investigation in my case."

Jeremy

Spring Submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission

I'm still waiting to hear on the outcome of my appeal against my whole life tariff which is with the European Grand Chamber in Strasbourg and was heard back at the end of November last year. I'm told that my lawyers will be advised of the outcome in advance

of it being announced publicly.

Simon McKay and his team are currently working on new material for the submissions to be made to the CCRC there is a lot to get through and a case will only be put forward when all material has been fully interpreted within a legal and forensic framework.

The disclosure issue is still being addressed more fully and the writing campaign has been delayed as a result, to be honest we had no idea how much crucial information has been withheld from the defence by Essex Police which can prove my innocence – documents referred to in other documents tell us the extent of the non disclosure issue and the evidence continues to mount.

This month also sees the launch of our 'Case QT' which enables information on the web pages to be watched/listened to in quick time – in just a matter of minutes. This is a crucial online resource in the campaign to educate people on the material in the case which shows my innocence and helps to make the information accessible for all.

Thank you to those of you who have been helping us work on the material for the new submissions and those involved in re-writing and structuring the web based case evidence.  

Enjoy the Easter Break and let's look forward to events which will unfold this year.

Jeremy.  

The Case of Jeremy Bamber at Cardiff Law School Innocence Week

@SWAWC, South Wales Against Wrongful Conviction, Cardiff Law School Innocence Week

The third Cardiff Law School Innocence week will be held 25th - 28 February 2013. All week students, staff and members of the public will be raising awareness of the problem of wrongful convictions while at the same time raising funds for SWAWC. The two main public events which are free and open to the public will be on Monday 25th (Simon McKay solicitor for Jeremy Bamber with be talking about the case) and Thursday 27th (Adrienne Page QC will be talking about the Shieldfield Nursery case) both at 6pm – for schedule click here.

Want to know more about the paradigms of a Miscarriage of Justice? Jeremy Bamber’s Case is what is known as a ‘Classic Case’. This is a rare opportunity to find out more about how Jeremy’s case has been sustained by the crown for over 26 years and if there is hope of Jeremy ever seeing his case overturned in the court of appeal.

Leading human rights solicitor from Leeds, Simon McKay has been involved in many high profile cases including overturning the conviction of Corporal Lee Clegg from Bradford, who was convicted of shooting two teenage joy riders in Belfast in 1990. More recently he defended Sgt Danny Nightingale. He has also worked for the UK Government acting as a special adviser on criminal law in counter terrorism and human rights issues.

McKay also has experience of dealing with sensitive subjects for government and police clients as well as media and sport law. Oxford University Press recently published Simon’s book Covert Policing: Law and Practice and he is also an honorary fellow of the school of Law at Leeds University. McKay Law also participates in the University of Leeds Community Advice Clinic, and Simon is legal adviser to the Innocence Project also at the University of Leeds. He currently represents Jeremy Bamber pro-bono for the appeal against his conviction.

Follow Simon’s Law blog at http://simonmckay.wordpress.com or on twitter @SimonMcKay his human rights law tweets were recommended by the Guardian’s top tweeter @rydermc Matthew Ryder QC in 2012. Simon is also the author of the forthcoming book Undercover Cop: principles, good practice and pitfalls.

"New Submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission."

Firstly thank you to all who have sent me Christmas and Birthday cards and gifts which provided a much needed boost to a very mercurial year for my case. Producing the text for “A Life of Less Liberty” made me vividly remember some of the happiest times with my family that I lost.  We all, at Christmas time look back, and owing to the recent loss of a friend to cancer, I was reminded of the issues of my own existence and the struggle for freedom, but all of us have to look forward, and pull together to achieve the justice which we are entitled to in our democratic society.

January has been a really busy month and I’ve had my head down working through material for McKay Law, and the new submissions to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. We have also obtained a further 23 folders of legal material and this is currently being scanned and scheduled with the help of a number of campaigners working hard, which is brilliant so thank you to those people who directly contribute to my case as the material is essential for proving our attempts at disclosure from Essex Police.

March and April will see a writing campaign; “Disclosure; Transparency; Justice; Freedom.” We have had many responses from MP’s offering to help regarding the non-disclosure of material. A detailed report is currently being prepared which will specifically reference Home Office police evidence that we know exists, but has been denied to me for 27 years. There are no laws which prevent this material from being handed over so there should be no problem with this issue in theory.

Secondly, we are also going to tackle the issue of documents which we know exist (again according to Home Office records and CCRC confirmation) that are held under Public Interest Immunity. It is almost 30 years and there can no longer (and never has been) a legitimate reason for the immunity of this material, and we are asking campaigners to support our request for the evidence by contacting their local MP’s, who can currently become involved directly as the case is no longer with the CCRC. So watch this space for the start of the campaign and relevant material you will need to send to your MP.

The updates on the web site are slowly happening and all material is either being re-written or academically referenced to case documents specifically. Keep an eye out on all pages of the site as all new/updated pages will have a date of the last update, this is because as new evidence becomes uncovered the text will be added to with further citations.

The next step of my televised interview will be through the lawyers and progress will be slow. I have been approached by 3 television companies wanting to carry out the interview and have selected a particularly experienced and established documentary maker to interview me.

This will come after footage of prisoner Luke Mitchell, convicted of killing Jodi Jones, passing a lie detector test was placed onto you tube with permission from The Ministry of Justice.  During my time in prison I have met no other prisoners maintaining innocence who are willing to sit the test and I believe that it will go a long way to helping Mitchell with his innocence campaign.

January also saw the launch of a new blog by one of my campaigners, it makes for great reading so catch up with the frequent updates at 

http://jeremybambercampaigner.blogspot.co.uk

Jeremy 

Jeremy's 52nd Birthday 13th January

Jeremy Bamber will be 52 on the 13th of January, join our fight to help free him; we have a writing campaign coming up so watch this space for details and take a few minutes of your time to change Jeremy's life, and make sure this innocent man never spends another birthday day behind bars. 

A Christmas of Less Liberty

A Christmas of Less Liberty is part of a series of pieces written by Jeremy reflecting on his life to mark 27 years in prison and 26 years wrongly convicted of murdering his family in 1985. 

Ipswich at Christmas time

“I wanted to share with you some small snapshots from my memories of Christmas time. The fun started from when we got the tree. We were never organized as Dad just liked to wing it and stop and buy trees from the road side. It had to be big; the lounge had such high ceilings and it was a running joke to see just how ridiculously huge a tree Dad would get. Dad loved to get that reaction from anyone visiting at the sight of a 14-foot pine tree that took up a quarter of the room. It was just amusement to Dad, and so, me too - it was just so over the top and great fun. It was like lots of little family rituals with Dad at Christmas. He wouldn’t get a single Christmas present until Christmas eve – Mum did all the main present buying and she used to think about it and make really good choices but, to Dad, leaving it to the last minute was all part of the fun. He had this special Christmas carrier bag which was about the size of a duvet cover with handles, and I could get into it easily; well that came out every Christmas Eve and Dad and I would go to Colchester in the morning and the woo-hoo adventure of it with a visit to Ipswich in the afternoon.

Between us we’d choose things for all those people Dad wanted to give presents to, no lists or plans; we’d just go into the shops and look at stuff we liked, and decide who else might like it and get it for them.  Dad being a country farmer, and me just a little boy, we had no idea about what was fashionable or the latest thing to have and so we’d get caught up in the hype of promotions. We would see some guy chopping up carrots with some gadget or other and think that it would be perfect for Mum. Dad’s mission every year was to buy the biggest box of chocolates for sale that he could find, as that was his traditional gift for Mum who loved choccies.  

So by the end of the day on our shopping trip Dad’s Christmas carrier bag would be full and wrapped in the shop. Name tags often came off, but rather than unwrap them he’d guess what it was by feeling them and then he would stick the tags back on for who he thought each gift was for. Mostly it was right but it just added to the fun when someone opened a present to find a Lego kit as Gran did one year instead of a box of liquor chocolates that I had already got and at 5:30am when I found them in my Santa’s stocking, and fed them to our dog, Jasper, ’cos they tasted horrible.

I’d go shopping with Mum in Colchester from when I was little up until I was about 15. As I grew older, we would split up in town and then later we’d meet up outside Williams and Griffins at a set time and on our way back to the car we had to go past this beautiful cake shop and tea rooms. The window display was full of éclairs and all kinds of cream cakes and delicious chocolatey things - it was such a temptation and at Christmas it was just magical. So Mum would treat me to whatever I fancied and years later she told me about what I was like when I was little because Mum wasn’t just buying me a cake it was an excuse to have one as well. She said I was always excited about choosing something but I always chose a fresh crusty bread roll and butter, no jam, just a roll and butter and a glass of milk.  Looking back now and thinking of those happy times: this cake shop had its own coffee grinder and machine and it made the place smell lovely. I’m thinking about Mum getting the menu and reading out all the sticky treats and cakey things. She’d say “you’d like that, Jem” - trying to tempt me into getting something. I would always have this roll and butter, but sometimes she did tempt me into a banana split.

Every year, Sheila and I would do a Christmas raid on the presents underneath the tree this went on for a few years from when I was about 6 and Sheila about 10. She would come and get me out of bed and we would go down stairs in the middle of the night. Sheila would be the ‘lookout’ and, being the smallest I would sneak into the pile of presents. I would usually plunge into the presents right in the middle, trying not to disturb the pile too much. From there I would un-tape some of the presents and pull out chocolates from them and eat one or two passing some to Sheila. It was great fun - we would spend ages giggling and thinking that no one would ever know we had been in the middle of the presents eating the chocolates. Sheila would pull me out of the pile by my legs when I was done and we would both have chocolate all around our faces, go back to bed and come down in the morning like it with bits of tinsel and pine needles in our hair. Looking back, it must have been so obvious that we had been eating chocolates from our Christmas raid in the night but we really thought Mum and Dad didn’t notice. The best memories of Sheila and Christmas were the times we spent together decorating the tree. Sheila was very artistic and loved to put the decorations on carefully and the tree would look simply magnificent, even if we did have to put the baubles quite high because our cat, Thomas, would get hold of them.

I just remember Christmas as such a happy time that was full of love and laughs and the family’s running jokes, like the over-sized Christmas tree, and one or two family members getting inappropriately drunk. But these memories are all long ago, happy memories. I miss them all: Gran and Granddad, Mum and Dad, Sheila, Daniel and Nicholas – who I can never share Christmas with again. I thought the world of my Sister Sheila, we can never share the laughter of those times or any memories of our childhood together now.

So what of the future and, perhaps, others to share fun Christmases with? For me to carry on in Dad’s footsteps, with an over large Christmas tree, and all our silly running jokes; or will it be another 30 or 40 more Christmases in here with one slice of processed turkey and the prospect of the onset of dementia; having my canteen purchases bullied off me ’cos I will be too old to stick up for myself and too forgetful to remember that someone has robbed me. I don’t want to endure really old age in a maximum security prison, with nobody to help me make my bed or dress me or help me eat, and not being able to take care of myself - living many harrowing years of shuffling about, not even knowing where I am or how I ended up in here.

This will be my 28^th Christmas at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, and being locked up for 15-and-a-half hours a day over most of the Christmas period is just horrible. The idea of having endured 27 already with another 28 or so to go, when I’ve proven over and over again that I didn’t murder my family and couldn’t have done is soul destroying.  My alibi has been kept hidden from the trial, two appeals, three police enquiries, countless IPCC complaints and enquiries and a total of 14 years investigating by the CCRC and yet no one has uncovered the evidence which we now have. The past year has shown everyone how many high-profile cases of police corruption have gone un-investigated, how police have ignored the pleas of innocent people to help them, how police have taken payments from journalists, and how public bodies frequently cover up the negligence and corruption which is virulent in the UK today and adds to the needless suffering of those who justice is supposed to protect.

I could not continue to fight for justice and freedom without the support and love of the friends around me on the outside. Everyone who writes a letter to me adds to my strength to carry on until the truth sets me free.

Thank you for sharing a part of your lives with me, and I hope that I have shared a part of me that makes you know that our cause is worthwhile. When I am home, my fight won’t end because I will work towards preventing the suffering of other people wrongly convicted and also to bring better healthcare and support to the families of those who struggle with mental illness.”

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Jeremy 

21st December 2012

Video on a Christmas of Less Liberty

Jeremy will be spending his 28th Christmas in prison for a crime he is not guilty of committing. He will be writing another part in a "Life of Less Liberty" for his blog. If you want to contact Jeremy at Christmas time please follow our guidelines.

High Court Judge Refuses Permission for Judicial Review of CCRC Decision, 29th November 2012

“It appears that the threshold for my case to be referred to the court of appeal is much higher than in most cases but that doesn't make me any less innocent. The law it seems, simply does not apply if it assists me in proving that I am wrongly convicted. The Commission have been given powers that allow them to dismiss forensic evidence without addressing it or having any valid reason and they are fully supported in this by the judiciary.

The Commission is clearly set up not to refer the cases of innocent people but to refer only on points of law which means the innocent are stuck in a system that does not recognise them. The route to the appeal court needs to be readdressed as the CCRC is not fulfilling the purpose it was originally set up to do which is investigate possible miscarriages of justice.  It is underfunded and under resourced and as a result leads to inexperienced case workers, and poor relationships with their clients.

Since the CCRC’s triennial review is upon us let’s hope there can be some improvements to the way in which they operate. I have no choice but to re-submit my case to the Commission with a large amount of fresh material and forensic work. I hope it will not take them another 8 years to review my case again as my life is being wasted simply waiting for the Commission to ignore valuable, credible and expensive forensic evidence, which is always submitted within their guidelines. I am not the only person to suffer at the hands of a system that just does not work and more must be done to aid the victims of injustice."

"Thank you to Simon McKay and his team for their work on this hearing."

Jeremy 

29th November 2012 CCRC, Jeremy Bamber and the High Court

29th November 2012 High Court is to decide if it will hear a Judicial Review of the Criminal Cases Review Commission's decision not to refer Jeremy Bamber's case back to the Court of Appeal.. 

Whole Life Tariff Reviews: 'Hope for the future, however tenuous that hope may be.'

On the 28^th of November 2012, the European Grand Chamber will hear the appeal against my whole life tariff along with two other cases, Vinter and Moore.

Firstly I need to clarify what this case is actually about. Many people have assumed that if my case in the Grand Chamber is won then my tariff would be put back down to the original 25 years set by the trial judge. This is not the case. What my legal team has applied for is for a review to be inserted into my mandatory whole life sentence.

It is my position that the UK Government is in breach of Article 3 and article 5 (4) of the European Convention on Human Rights by imposing a whole life sentence without review, this amounts to ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’ But what does this actually mean?

In light of the January ruling that whole life tariff's are not in breach of human rights law, the only appropriate submission my legal team could make to the Grand Chamber is that there is no problem with a government applying a mandatory whole life sentence, but the breach of Human Rights Law lies within there being no mechanism for review of the prisoner’s whole life sentence. It is then asserted, (and it is also my particular view) that a whole life order then becomes parallel with a death sentence. To order someone to die is to permanently exclude them from society and it then follows that to sentence a person to whole life imprisonment is also permanent social exclusion. Social death is a dimension of the slavery which replaced death in Classical society, and was and still is intrinsically linked to loss of liberty. [1] As I have stated many times, I have been sentenced to death by old age.

This leads us to the psychological state of those incarcerated for whole life without reviews. It has been clarified by psychologists including those assessing me that I am at continued risk of having depression brought about the prolonged environment of prison.[2] I am in total agreement about life without hope, after all hope is what keeps the human spirit alive and without hope there is nothing. For me, even with the insertion of a review there is still very little hope of release. If the Grand Chamber rule to allow me to have reviews there is no knowing at what point a review could be placed, it might be at 30 or 40 years into a sentence. As I have maintained innocence, there lies the other difficulty of reviewing my prison term in light of this. Because I have maintained innocence I have not taken part in any rehabilitation programmes and neither can I be viewed as a prisoner who has gained atonement. The judiciary and review boards see me as being in denial of guilt. So when the European Court of Human Rights ruled against my appeal at Strasbourg in January 2012, the three dissenting judges emphasised that Article 3 was being infringed and their words rang true for me, “equally importantly depriving him of any hope for the future, however tenuous that hope may be.” Tenuous, really is how I feel about this ruling even if we win in the Grand Chamber. After this digression, nevertheless the argument my lawyers have put forward is that this treatment, taking into account psychological effects does amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. To this I have to agree wholeheartedly, respect for ‘hope’ an essential dimension of human dignity does underpin the protection of human rights. [3]

In the USA and China the death penalty still exists in contrast to Canada where there is no death penalty and no whole life sentencing. The USA, similarly to England and Wales currently has the sentence of ‘Life Without Parole’ (LWOP) and in Florida the US Supreme Court commented broadly on the destructive impact of this sentence “It deprives the convict of the most basic liberties without giving hope of restoration.[4]

If you have always felt that England and Wales are soft on sentencing then think again because the statistics show otherwise. The position is that all majority state parties of Europe rule that life sentences must have reviews.[5] Only England and Wales and Hungary have an authentically irreducible whole life sentence,  England and Wales with almost 21 times more life sentenced prisoners than any other single European country and we currently have more whole life sentence prisoners than all of Europe put together. [6] The first whole life tariff in the UK was set in 1988, and in 2003 reviews at executive discretion for these prisoners was abolished (under a Labour government).[7] Although Scotland’s sentencing is generally similar to England and Wales their human rights laws were brought into line with Europe at the time of the devolution of powers.[8]

Whole life tariff prisoners cannot be subject to a prerogative pardon. The only mechanism for release of a prisoner (other than to overturn their conviction) on a whole life sentence in England and Wales is granted in exceptional circumstances, where the prisoner is medically incapacitated with death to occur within 3 months and no life sentence prisoner has ever been released under this or any other power in England and Wales. This exception compounds the view that a whole life sentence is literally a death sentence.[9]

As I am not guilty of the crimes I have been convicted of carrying out, where do I fit in all of this?  Currently the only avenue to appeal is through the politically controlled quango of the Criminal Cases Review Commission. When this avenue is exhausted because the commission has usurped the role of the appeal courts and is in violation of the Criminal Appeals act 1995, and non disclosure of evidential materials still prevails, surely this is a violation of both Article 3 and 5(4) of European Human Rights Law, and should be taken into consideration when assessing whole life sentences. As crime is intrinsically tied to sentencing it is axiomatic that the problem of Miscarriage of Justice cases could be expanded within this framework simply because a Miscarriage of Justice in UK law does not allow for innocence but only a “miscarriage of due process.”[10]

If we are to believe the statistics quoted by Dr Michael Naughton as opposed to the Government’s ‘massaged figures’ we face a very worrying situation indeed. Naughton reveals that there are no less than 18 convictions a day over turned in the UK which is an astonishing figure warranting a full review of the causes of wrongful convictions.[11] Indeed Naughton himself states:  “miscarriages of justice as understood from the perspective of the legal system are not the exception to the rule, rather they are a routine and even mundane feature of the criminal justice process.”[12] 

It is of course, with my own conviction and these statistics in mind when I consider what a whole life sentence means to the individuals living a ‘social death’ as I do each day. But whatever happens on the 28^th of November this year it will make little difference to my current life, release for me with my conviction intact means no life at all. There is only one freedom and one hope for me and that is that the truth of my innocence will be heard in a court of Law allowing me the liberty I have been fighting for.

---

[1] Patterson, O. Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982

[2] Dr Anderson Report, 2006

[3] “reintergrationist” versus “exclusionary” types of imprisonment, Dolovich, pg 13 & 122; Life Without Parole, Ed Ogletree and Sarat, NYU Press, 2012. Absence of a “dignity tradition” comparative study USA, Europe, pg 19 & 282-310, op cit.

[4] Graham v  Florida 130, S.Ct. 2011, 2021 (2010) at 2027 & Naovarath v State, 105 Nev. 525, 526, 779 P.2d 944 (1989), at pg 4 &40

[5] http://treaties.un.org & UN report on Life Imprisonment (1994)

[6] Stats prisoners serving life or IPP http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/prison-probation/omsq/omsq-q1-2012.pdf, The Howard, Newsletter of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Summer 2009, http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/prisons/ & Hansard, Baroness Stern at Col 448 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/

[7] Provisions of CJA 2003

[8] Convention rights (Compliance) (Scotland) Act 2001 c.7

[9] PSO, 4700, para, 12.2.1

[10] Naughton, M. Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice, 2012 edition, Palgrave, Basingstoke, pp 21-24

[11] Daily average in Crown Court, CACD (including referrals from the CCRC) and House of Lords, 18.21, op cit.

[12] Ibid pg 4 

Final Article in the Series, Jeremy Bamber: A Life of Less Liberty

This is the fourth and last article in the series written by Jeremy to mark the anniversary of 26 years wrongly convicted and 27 years wrongly imprisoned. 

“My hopes for the future have evolved considerably during my time in prison simply because I never thought I would stay in jail. But I can’t help thinking about all the things I might do when I am free. I used to think I would like to travel a lot or have a farm somewhere like Australia or New Zealand. The many friends I have had over the years have often led me to think about doing things I’d never thought about before like skiing or surfboarding. I’ve thought about having a little Chateau in France with a vineyard or spending time by the sea. The nearest I have been to the beach recently was when I called a friend on a mobile phone and I could hear waves of the sea lapping on the beach where he was, it stirred up happy memories. 

Now I just think about living an ordinary, uncomplicated life with simple pleasures and enjoying the company of good friends. I want to visit the supermarket and choose from an abundance of foods, walk freely about this beautiful country and picnic in the sunset on a summer’s day. I want the the freedom of choice to go to live music concerts, football matches, the theatre, cycling or just staying in, cooking a nice meal and lounging on the sofa with a glass of wine and listening to music.

Other prisoners have visits from their family and while I have lots of friends, the thing I miss the most is my family. Losing them has been more difficult to bear than 27 years of wrongful imprisonment. Our families are always there for us no matter what, they transcend time that friends or lovers lose when they might come and go but family is permanent and consistent. Many miscarriage of justice cases have family to fight for them, support and love them. I will keep fighting to prove my innocence and clear the name of my family which was portrayed as "dysfunctional" simply by the stigma of Sheila’s mental illness.

When I think about what life might have been like had I not lost my family so tragically and come to jail, I imagine my parents growing older and when I speak to friends whose parents are becoming ill and infirm with age, some living into their late eighties and nineties, I feel cheated that I’ve not had all of those years to share and all that time to care. I never got to see my Dad retire or my Mum continue with her work for the WI and Church. I often wonder what it would have been like for my parents to see Sheila’s boys grow up and have children themselves; there would have been another joy for them being great-grandparents as many older people are today. I wonder what my parents would have made of modern farming.  I often think of how things might have been for Sheila if her mental health had been managed properly and we had known how to support her, she could have gone on to marry again if her condition was improved.

I think about what might have become of my own life, one can only guess but I know I would have continued with farming which has always been my passion, and I feel sad that modern farming continues to struggle through financial troubles. I worry that wildlife in the countryside is on the decline owing to modern pesticides brought about by new ways of farming. I often wonder if I would have done more travelling before settling down I certainly felt I would like to return to Australia. I consider the things that might have been and the things that will be. I have been denied my own family life, a partner and fatherhood. I didn’t imagine being single at 51 of course but in the future I feel a sense of excitement and exploration. It will be strange to start with but I will embrace and enjoy every moment of my liberty. I want to ramble through the countryside and return to farming in a small way. I want someone to share my life with and all of the simple things, perhaps a country dweller, someone who is in tune with the seasons. I want to do all of the caring and loving that the condition of imprisonment denies me.”

I just want to be free. 

Jeremy

Download all four parts as a PDF Here.

Third Article in the series, Jeremy Bamber: A life of Less Liberty

This is the third article in a sequence called A Life of Less Liberty, which is a series of four short pieces written by Jeremy reflecting on his 27 years of wrongful incarceration. 

“I wanted to write about the social dimension of my imprisonment and explain how things have changed for me since coming to prison.  In my late teens I was very lucky to have an older sister who in the late ’70’s was a very beautiful and popular model. Sheila and her modelling mates took me under their wings and showed me around London’s glitzy night clubs on many enjoyable evenings. I think they saw me as a little mascot and I made them laugh and they felt safe with me, even today I’m still in touch with some of them. As the New Romantic era in music came into fashion I was doing A Levels at Colchester Technical College and I seemed to mix with all the trendy girls most of the time as I was never a ‘beer with the lads’ kind of bloke. I always had lots of gay friends too though I’d mix easily with the young farmers locally, my friends generally were from a wide circle.  I feel upset that I have missed out on all of their weddings, birthday parties, Christenings and watching them become good parents or celebrate a change of career, and I’ve even been denied the mourning process of saying goodbye at funerals. I have missed all the key times in their lives as I’ve not been able to share so many things with them, or protect them when they were afraid, or comfort them when they were hurt, just to be there for my friends at any time of the day or night when they needed a kind word or listening ear.  

At the prison there is just a concrete yard to walk around but I enjoy visits from friends on the outside and it’s great to catch up on how everyone is doing. When friends are happy that’s easy of course but when they have a crisis that’s when I feel it as I’m unable to help them in a tangible way.  So I am left feeling useless as a friend and powerless which is tough. I have friends who are the same age as my nephews Nicholas and Daniel and it’s always heartbreaking thinking about the lives they live and thinking about the boys doing the same had their lives not been cut short in the tragedy. But I also love the enthusiasm for life that my younger friends have – the career opportunities now are worldwide and available to anyone who works hard and wants it enough.

When I still had my liberty I used to go to the gym, not as frequently as I do now but I liked to keep fit and working on the farm also naturally helped to keep me strong. Being healthy is something you don’t think about when you are younger but coping with the stress of coming to prison as an innocent man has been difficult. One of the great ways to help with pressure is by going to the gym, whatever type of activity you’re into it makes a huge difference. The prison regime encourages sport and sports training. I’ve done many different activities over the years including football and other team games but I really do prefer to lift weights rather than aerobic exercise. I am dedicated to my gym sessions which are really enjoyable and another way of stress relief is through yoga, and this is something I learnt in prison a long time ago through classes and I’ve continued to use it since then, it makes up part of my physical therapy routine to keep supple, centre myself in difficult times, and it adds to my overall wellbeing because prison is a naturally stressful environment.  

I have of course made friends inside prison and I remember doing time in Gartree with Yusef Abdullahi one of the Cardiff three wrongly convicted for the murder of Lynette White. Yusef was a very nice man and a great friend at the time which is why I was upset by his tragic death last year. I felt the injustice of the time in prison which he had lost as a result of his wrongful conviction. We used to share our thoughts about what life would be like when our convictions were overturned and I know at that time neither of us would have believed that his freedom would be taken by his early death and that I would still be convicted even now.”

Jeremy

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