Fallout...

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has called for the resignation of Helen Pitcher, chairman of the CCRC, over the case of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit. An investigation into the CCRC's role by Chris Henley KC found it had missed several opportunities to refer the case to appeal. Malkinson, who was released only as a result of forensic tests by campaigners, said on proving his innocence: 'I'm not the only one.'

And so, as a result of the peculiar drive to demand a retrial on behalf of Lucy Letby, one of those others - which I've long believed was indeed deserving of a referral - is getting a turn in the spotlight: 

The New Yorker, which has also raised questions about the safety of nurse Lucy Letby's conviction for murdering seven babies, has been investigating the Bamber case since last October. It has focused on claims that Essex Police lied about evidence, altered witness statements, passed evidence to a third party, withheld and concealed evidence and tampered with a crime scene after the murders at the family's farm near Maldon, Essex.

Which to anyone who has read anything about the case isn't new evidence, it's just evidence that's been ignored up until now, to protect the reputation of the Essex Police... 

The police argued that Bamber must have carried out the murders because the gun had been fitted with a silencer, which made it too long for her to be physically able to shoot herself, but ballistics experts have subsequently cast doubt on whether the rifle was fitted with a silencer. Police also said if she had gone on a rampage her feet would have been covered in blood and that this was not the case. But a picture of her feet obtained by Bamber's lawyers shows bloodstains.

Bamber's lawyers also unearthed a police phone log of a call on the night of the killings from Nevill. The log, entitled 'daughter gone berserk', noted Mr Bamber had said his daughter had stolen one of his guns and gone 'berserk'. A bloodstained Bible, found by Sheila's side and open at pages containing Psalms 51-55 – on the struggle between good and evil – was never forensically examined or produced at trial, despite requests from Bamber's solicitor.

There surely must be enough to finally get the case reopened.  

A spokesman for Bamber's campaign said the New Yorker investigation highlighted a key issue raised in the report on CCRC failings in the Malkinson case – 'a refusal to carry out any investigations into submissions that are presented to them'. They added: 'The CCRC have had Jeremy Bamber's latest submissions since March 2021 and… they have not investigated any of the key exculpatory issues they contain, which demonstrate Jeremy Bamber's innocence.'

Here's hoping. And after this, Michael Stone.