The Steeple Times

Category: Justice

  • Justice For Jeremy Bamber – Could A Chance Of Such Be Back On The Pitch?

    Justice For Jeremy Bamber – Could A Chance Of Such Be Back On The Pitch?

    Matthew Steeples exclusively speaks to the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign as they call for the whole-life tariff prisoner’s case to finally be reviewed by the Court of Appeal in the wake of the hapless and hopeless Criminal Cases Review Commission being shockingly shaken by scandal-upon-scandal after the departure of Helen Pitcher

    Last week, in two separate articles, The Guardian’s senior crime and legal affairs reporter Emily Dugan shockingly shared: “For the wrongfully convicted, watching the years disappear from a prison cell, the miscarriage of justice watchdog represents their final hope. But some staff at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) say its leaders appear divorced from that reality, using public money for executive training retreats in France and networking over fine wine and steak.”

     

    In the wake of this statutory body responsible for investigating miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s chairwoman, Helen Pitcher KC OBE, resigning after “an independent panel decided she was no longer fit to stay in the post,” have come yet further revelations about trouble-and-strife at the CCRC. Pitcher had been forced to vamoose after the scandal of “the case of Andrew Malkinson, who spent who spent 17 years in jail for a 2003 rape he did not commit after the CCRC missed multiple opportunities to help.”

     

    Aside from Pitcher being slammed for conducting “Teams meetings from the balcony of her villa in the sunshine Montenegro” and boasting “about her jetset life,” the still remaining in post chief executive, Karen Kneller, has since been nicknamed ‘Karen Invisible’ by staff. Of her, Emily Dugan observed: “She is described by some of those working for her as ‘absent,’ with her ‘finger off the pulse.’”

     

    “One staff member said that under Pitcher and Kneller, an ‘us-and-them culture’ had been allowed to grow within the organisation, with commissioners – the arbiters of cases – staying at top hotels when staff were summoned to Birmingham for meetings, while others stayed at budget accommodation.”

     

    “Fine wines, lobster dishes and post-dinner brandies featured while Pitcher held court at top restaurants with commissioners at their twice-yearly meetings. One source recalled: ‘It was The Ivy; it was never McDonald’s. It was always the posh restaurant.’”

     

    Separately, in an article for the Romford Recorder last week also, the paper’s investigations reporter Charles Thomson reported on “the family of an East End man [named Jason Moore] challenging a murder conviction” calling “for urgent extra funding at Britain’s miscarriage of justice watchdog.”

     

    Thomson observed: “A Newsquest legal action revealed investigators at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) are juggling dozens of cases each. The average caseworker at the CCRC is trying to manage 23 simultaneous cases, rising to 25 if trainees, new starters and leavers are excluded… The highest number of cases allocated to a single worker in January this year was 45. With annual leave, that worker would have just one week per year to spend on each potential miscarriage of justice assigned to them – not accounting for any ‘additional responsibilities.’”

     

    Now, aside from Pitcher having been expelled and Kneller clearly on the ropes, it seems that this – the only body that can reinvestigate miscarriages of justice to send them to the Court of Appeal – is going to be rocked by further revelations.

     

    On Sunday 9th February, Scott Jones and Glen Owen for The Mail on Sunday shared that “Jeremy Bamber’s 40-year bid to prove he is innocent of the White House Farm murders will come to a head next month when the under-fire Criminal Cases Review Commission decides whether to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.”

     

    Journalist Emily Dugan recently tweeted sharing her article and remarked on the CCRC’s chief being dubbed ‘Karen Invisible’ by staff at the hapless and hopeless organisation.
    Journalist Emily Dugan recently tweeted sharing her article and remarked on the CCRC’s chief being dubbed ‘Karen Invisible’ by staff at the hapless and hopeless organisation.
    Responding to ‘The Mail on Sunday’ article about the CCRC likely reviewing Jeremy Bamber’s case next month, one person who left a comment, ‘SloaneRanger’, observed: “Isn't it curious that the as much use as a chocolate teapot Criminal Cases Review Commission is now getting so 'busy' revisiting cases finally now that they've had the disgrace of their handling of the Andrew Malkinson case and subsequently the forced resignation of their chairwoman Helen Pitcher OBE? This useless organisation has sat on the evidence presented to them by the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign in recent years for far too long. Whether you believe Jeremy Bamber to be innocent or guilty, the evidence gathered, at the very least, illustrates the incompetence of Essex Police and proves that this case must be revisited.”
    Responding to ‘The Mail on Sunday’ article about the CCRC likely reviewing Jeremy Bamber’s case next month, one person who left a comment, ‘SloaneRanger’, observed: “Isn’t it curious that the as much use as a chocolate teapot Criminal Cases Review Commission is now getting so ‘busy’ revisiting cases finally now that they’ve had the disgrace of their handling of the Andrew Malkinson case and subsequently the forced resignation of their chairwoman Helen Pitcher OBE? This useless organisation has sat on the evidence presented to them by the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign in recent years for far too long. Whether you believe Jeremy Bamber to be innocent or guilty, the evidence gathered, at the very least, illustrates the incompetence of Essex Police and proves that this case must be revisited.”
    A recent tweet from @Bambertweets remarked on instances referencing Sheila Caffell being alive inside White House Farm whilst Jeremy Bamber was outside with police and also Essex Police’s ‘curious’ record keeping about where they first encountered bodies in the property. Isn’t it about time the CCRC got on with reviewing this clear potential miscarriage of justice?

    In a letter to the lawyer for Bamber – who is the only whole-life prisoner in a British jail to continue to claim to be innocent, but whom was convicted of the 1985 murders of his adoptive parents, his adoptive sister and her twin sons in 1986 – that was “seen by The Mail on Sunday,” a CCRC case review manager stated:

     

    “I am still aiming to bring Mr Bamber’s case before a decision-making committee around March to consider the core issues. I am continuing to consider Mr Bamber’s submissions, in particular those relating to the number of sound moderators (gun silencers) recovered from White House Farm and the forensic findings from it/them.”

     

    Responding, a spokesperson for the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign (JBIC) today told The Steeple Times that they are finally anticipating action to resolve the clear previous lack of it in the CCRC’s handling of evidence submitted. They exclusively commented:

     

    “Nearly four years ago the CCRC were presented with a cast-iron alibi for Jeremy Bamber in the shape of a 999 call being made from within White House Farm at 6.09 am on the morning of the shootings. This showed that Sheila Caffell was still alive inside the house when Jeremy was standing outside surrounded by police officers.”

     

    “In July 2024, this alibi was corroborated by the police officer who took the call, PC Nicholas Milbank, in an interview with The New Yorker magazine. He confirmed that he did take a 999 call from White House Farm at that time.”

     

    “He also said that he had no knowledge of the typed, unsigned, statement, supposedly written by him, that Essex Police used before Jeremy’s 2002 Appeal to explain away the police records of the 999 call as a ‘misunderstanding.’ Mr Milbank said that he had never written such a statement.”

     

    “In light of these facts, it is utterly extraordinary that the CCRC have, as far as we are aware, made no attempt to contact Mr Milbank directly to confirm what he said to The New Yorker.”

     

    “During the years since Jeremy’s latest submissions were lodged with the CCRC, in March 2021, they have done nothing apart from a cursory desktop review of the prosecution case. The CCRC have not investigated any aspect of the considerable amount of exculpatory evidence they have been shown, such as the fact that the police lied about there only being one moderator involved in the case.”

     

    “Jeremy has served 10% of his current 40-year-term whilst the mass of evidence that proves his innocence has been gathering dust on the shelves of the CCRC.”

     

    “We can only hope that the further evidence of two moderators being involved in the case that was given to the CCRC in November 2024, thereby disproving the central plank of the Crown case that here was only one, will finally prompt the CCRC to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal very soon.”

     

    To learn more about the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign, click here.

     

    To read Heidi Blake’s 17,000-word August 2024 ‘The New Yorker’ article about Jeremy Bamber’s case, ‘A Very English Murder,’ in PDF format, click here.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows on YouTube at @mjs2781/streams.

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Some questions Essex Police and the Criminal Cases Review Commission plainly need to answer regarding this case… Including some new ones that could lead to to the exoneration of jailed for nigh on 40 years and still protesting his innocence Jeremy Bamber…

    • What happened to a suicide note allegedly left by Sheila Caffell, a paranoid schizophrenic known for suffering psychotic episodes, that was initially referenced by police and then disappeared?
    • Why did Sheila Caffell not have rigor mortis when officers discovered her body?
    • Why was blood still gaping from Miss Caffell’s body when it was found?
    • Why was the bible found by the body of Miss Caffell moved at the crime scene, why was it not used in evidence and why was that bible destroyed by police also?
    • Why are there different accounts about how many bodies were discovered on the ground floor of the farmhouse when Essex Police first entered the farmhouse at around 7.30am?
    • How could Jeremy Bamber be the killer if police officers repeatedly detected movement inside White House Farmhouse whilst he was stood with them outside at from around 4am onwards?
    • How could Jeremy Bamber be the killer if a 999 phone call was made by someone within White House Farm at 6.09am when he was outside at that time with police officers?
    • Why was a silencer supposedly used in the shootings not discovered immediately when police entered the residence?
    • Why have questions about the number of silencers found never previously addressed? Were there one, two or even three such sound moderators? Did Essex Police make false claims about such devices?
    • Why did scratch marks supposedly made in the kitchen of the house supposedly by a silencer not appear in the first photographs taken at the crime scene? How were they actually made in order that they appeared in later imagery?
    • Why weren’t issues with whose DNA could have been on that silencer made clear at Jeremy Bamber’s trial?
    • How could Jeremy Bamber be the killer if he made a phone call from his Goldhanger home 3.5 miles away moments after his father had called police from White House Farmhouse to say that his daughter had “gone berserk” with a gun?
    • Why did Essex Police hide hundreds of thousands of pages of key documentation including police logs and crime scene photographs from being shared during both the 1986 trial and the 2002 appeal? As human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell remarked in May 2024: “[Jeremy Bamber] cannot have a new, fair appeal until all evidence is made available to his legal team. The wholesale suppression of evidence means that Jeremy Bamber did not get a fair trial. His conviction is unsafe.”
    • Could the AGA be responsible for the burn marks on Nevill Bamber and if so, why did Essex Police move bodies at the crime scene?
    • Why did Essex Police so push the narrative of Jeremy Bamber’s former lover and known thief Julie Mugford given they knew shew had been sold her story for £25,000 to the now defunct News of the World with the payment to be received only if he was convicted?
    • Why did Essex Police not investigate why other relatives supported the narrative of Jeremy Bamber as killer given those very relatives only benefitted financially based on Jeremy Bamber’s ultimate conviction?
    • Why have the “crisis-hit miscarriage of justice watchdog” Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) “only managed to review three of nine potential grounds of appeal identified by Bamber’s lawyer Mark Newby since an application as made in 2021?”
    • When will the Criminal Cases Review Commission – who have less than 2% referral rate back to the Court of Appeal – finally finish reviewing evidence supplied in the Jeremy Bamber case that this shows this as a conviction that clearly needs re-examining at the very, very least?

    The scene of the murders during the night of 6th and 7th August 1985: White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA.
    The scene of the murders during the night of 6th and 7th August 1985: White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA.
    Jeremy Bamber’s adoptive parents, Ralph and June Bamber, and the grave where they are buried. Could he finally be exonerated of their killings in 2025?
    Jeremy Bamber’s adoptive parents, Ralph and June Bamber, and the grave where they are buried. Could he finally be exonerated of their killings in 2025?
    In November 2022, Phillip Boyce – who has worked on high profile investigations as a forensic scientist for over 30 years –claimed that Essex Police could have “changed the evidence” in the case by moving the body of Nevill Bamber before official photographs of the scene were taken. If true, the three burn marks on Mr Bamber’s back would not have been inflicted by the hot end of a rifle but instead by his dead body being left lying against the AGA and its hot handles instead causing the burns. In photographs taken by police, shown to the trial jury at Chelmsford Crown Court in 1986, Nevill Bamber was instead seen slumped over an overturned chair in the kitchen.
    In November 2022, Phillip Boyce – who has worked on high profile investigations as a forensic scientist for over 30 years –claimed that Essex Police could have “changed the evidence” in the case by moving the body of Nevill Bamber before official photographs of the scene were taken. If true, the three burn marks on Mr Bamber’s back would not have been inflicted by the hot end of a rifle but instead by his dead body being left lying against the AGA and its hot handles instead causing the burns. In photographs taken by police, shown to the trial jury at Chelmsford Crown Court in 1986, Nevill Bamber was instead seen slumped over an overturned chair in the kitchen.
    One of the bedrooms at the farm; a truly horrific scene that will go down in history as a murder most horrid. If it is proven that Jeremy Bamber was NOT the killer, this case will also go down in history as one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice.
    One of the bedrooms at the farm; a truly horrific scene that will go down in history as a murder most horrid. If it is proven that Jeremy Bamber was NOT the killer, this case will also go down in history as one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice.
    In April 2020, ‘The Steeple Times’ reported that “further questions about the conduct of Essex Police [were] raised as it [was] revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm on the night of the 1985 murders. The 20th March 2000 letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP and Sheila Caffell is truly a shocking example of a bungling balls-up.
    In April 2020, ‘The Steeple Times’ reported that “further questions about the conduct of Essex Police [were] raised as it [was] revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm on the night of the 1985 murders. The 20th March 2000 letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP and Sheila Caffell is truly a shocking example of a bungling balls-up.
    The clearly left open bible next to the body of Sheila Caffell was photographed by Essex Police, but was then not submitted as evidence and destroyed. A supposed suicide note also disappeared and countless other evidence was clearly tampered with. “What motivation did those processing the scene have to do this?” is a question that Essex Police and prosecutors have repeatedly failed to answer.
    The clearly left open bible next to the body of Sheila Caffell was photographed by Essex Police, but was then not submitted as evidence and destroyed. A supposed suicide note also disappeared and countless other evidence was clearly tampered with. “What motivation did those processing the scene have to do this?” is a question that Essex Police and prosecutors have repeatedly failed to answer.
    Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, a longtime supporter of Jeremy Bamber, tweeted about the case on 7th March 2021. He remarked: “Is this [the] greatest miscarriage of justice?” and previously in 2017, he wrote to the then chief constable of Essex Police, Stephen Kavanagh, to highlight the “grave injustice” of the force’s withholding and destroying evidence with regard to the White House Farm murders.
    Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, a longtime supporter of Jeremy Bamber, tweeted about the case on 7th March 2021. He remarked: “Is this [the] greatest miscarriage of justice?” and previously in 2017, he wrote to the then chief constable of Essex Police, Stephen Kavanagh, to highlight the “grave injustice” of the force’s withholding and destroying evidence with regard to the White House Farm murders.
    Jeremy Bamber’s legal team have alleged that the senior investigating officer in the case, Michael Ainsley, took documents relating to the case to his home in 2010 and destroyed them in spite of “knowing there was an active appeal underway.” Surely, now, it is time for a reinvestigation of this case at the very least if faith in the British justice system is to be retained.
    Jeremy Bamber’s legal team have alleged that the senior investigating officer in the case, Michael Ainsley, took documents relating to the case to his home in 2010 and destroyed them in spite of “knowing there was an active appeal underway.” Surely, now, it is time for a reinvestigation of this case at the very least if faith in the British justice system is to be retained.
  • Lawmakers & Lawbreakers – 8th December ‘Discussion Dinner’ With ‘Get Carmen’ Author Karen Phillipps; Britain’s Most Feared Barrister, George Carman QC

    Lawmakers & Lawbreakers – 8th December ‘Discussion Dinner’ With ‘Get Carmen’ Author Karen Phillipps; Britain’s Most Feared Barrister, George Carman QC

    Matthew Steeples to interview Karen Phillipps, author of the newly released ‘Get Carman,’ at 8th December discussion dinner in London; an account of the life and times of “Britain’s most feared lawyer” George Carman QC

    “One has to express things in a way a jury finds attractive” and “it is not the duty of a barrister to find out the truth; that is for the jury” are two of the late, great George Carman QC’s most notable remarks. Now, with the publication of Karen Phillipps’s “gripping” new book, Get Carman, reminder of such again comes to the fore. As Carman himself concluded: “A barrister’s duty is to his client, to present his case as best as he can.”

     

    On Sunday 8th November at PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie in London, SW3, Phillipps will be interviewed by Matthew Steeples about “Britain’s most feared and most famous lawyer in living memory” during the second in a series of ‘discussion dinners’ about lawmakers and lawbreakers. She will speak of her personal experiences with a legal titan she describes as “complex and private and yet not unsociable” and will explore cases including that of Sonia Sutcliffe v. News of the World, Elton John v. Mirror Group Newspapers, Jonathan Aitken v. The Guardian and Neil Hamilton v. Mohamed Al Fayed.

     

    Mohamed Al Fayed George Carman Neil Hamilton Christine Hamilton
    The Phoney Pharoh v. The Hamiltons – Of the case brought against him by Mohamed Al Fayed, Phillips remarks in ‘Get Carman’ of Neil Hamilton: “Neil was not bitter about George Carman’s triumph; in fact, he said he would have loved to have instructed him as his lawyer. He was in no doubt that George’s advocacy was very powerful and lost him the case.”
    A YouTube video of Matthew Steeples chatting with Peter Bleksley and guests at the first ‘The Steeples’ ‘Discussion Dinner’ on 6th November 2024 at PJ’s Chelsea Brasserie in Fulham Road, London, SW3 was a huge success. We look forward to welcoming those who attended and those that didn’t on the 8th December to witness Matthew Steeples interview Karen Phillipps about her “gripping” new account of the life and times of George Carman QC.

    The evening follows a rip-roaring first event on the candlelit mezzanine level at PJ’s on 6th November where renowned policing and crime expert and Talk TV Crime Suspect and Channel 4 Manhunt ‘Chief’ Peter Bleksley spoke of the toxicity that has enveloped policing and explored the public’s enthusiasm for the true crime genre. This time, guests will be able to ask Phillipps about not only the courtroom dramas and legendary “one-line zingers” that made Carman famous, but also learn of why, as Judge Rinder’s Rob Rinder MBE puts it, “the bad, the sad and sometimes the mad – would (if they could) do anything to get Carman.”

     

    Famed especially for his remarkably and surprisingly successful defence of the disgraced former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe – subsequently played by Hugh Grant in the BBC’s A Very English Scandal – it will be for bringing theatre to the English justice system that Carman will be long be remembered for and today we urge you to sign up to attend what will not just be a night to fascinate legal eagles, but also a riveting evening of festivity and fine dining.

     

    Tickets to the evening are priced at £99 and include a delicious 3 course Christmas dinner and a glass of Prosecco and half a bottle of red or white wine per person. Book by clicking here on Eventbrite or should you wish to pay by direct bank transfer please contact [email protected] to receive the relevant sort code and account number to send to.

     

    Copies of Get Carman – published by Biteback Publishing – will also be available to purchase and to be signed on the night for £25, cash only.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows on YouTube at @mjs2781/streams.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Gillian Taylforth blowjob The Sun George Carman collapses Victorian swoon
    Soap Siren v. The Sun – During the libel trial she brought against ‘The Sun’ over a story about an alleged sex act in a Range Rover in January 1994, George Carman triumphed for the paper over the ‘EastEnders’ star Gillian Taylforth. When the verdict was announced the actress collapsed in what was described as a “Victorian swoon” and had to be taken away by ambulance.

    George Carman’s Clients & Cases…

    • Coronation Street actor Peter Adamson.
    • Dr Leonard Arthur, a consultant paediatrician accused of killing a Down Syndrome baby.
    • Businessman Sir Richard Branson.
    • Actor Tom Cruise and his then wife, actress Nicole Kidman.
    • Comedian Ken Dodd.
    • Since disgraced business tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed.
    • Musician Sir Elton John.
    • British spy Geoffrey Prime.
    • Carole Richardson, one of the Guildford Four.
    • Disgraced former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe.

     

    The QC’s Most Famous Quotes…

    • On Ken Dodd: “Some accountants are comedians, but comedians are never accountants.”
    • On David Mellor: “Behaved like an ostrich and put his head in the sand, thereby exposing his thinking parts.”
    • On Sonia Sutcliffe, the wife of the Yorkshire Ripper: “She danced on the graves of her husband’s victims. She is a clever, confident, cold and calculating woman. She has sought to excite sympathy at every available opportunity in the witness box. The truth and Sonia do not make good bedfellows.”
    • On Jeremy Thorpe: “He is human, like us all. We learn – do we not? That idols sometimes have feet of clay.”

    Jonathan Aitken George Carman
    Sword of Truth v. Labour Luvvies – Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of ‘The Guardian’ (1995 – 2015), on receiving a writ from Jonathan Aitken remarked: “We’d better get Carman – before Aitken gets him.”
    Get Carman by Karen Phillipps
    Copies of the book, published by Biteback, will be available to purchase on the night.
  • Enough Is Enough – The Madeleine McCann Case, Its Unspoken Secrets & Why Operation Grange Needs To End Now

    Enough Is Enough – The Madeleine McCann Case, Its Unspoken Secrets & Why Operation Grange Needs To End Now

    Jane Monckton suggests enough is enough and argues it is time to close the investigation into the ‘disappearance’ of Madeleine McCann; focus funding instead on other missing people who can more likely be found

    The Madeleine McCann case has been a fixture in public consciousness for 17 years. As a three-year-old who vanished from a Portuguese holiday resort on 3rd May 2007, Madeleine became a symbol of hope, horror, and heartache for a family – and a mystery for a global audience.

     

    However, after years of an investigation riddled with dead ends, millions in public funding, and a recent disappointment in the acquittal of suspect Christian Brueckner in other totally unconnected cases, many are asking the same question: Why does this case continue? Who holds the real answers? And, is there anyone out there who actually knows what happened?

     

    A costly obsession – Millions spent, few results

    Since her disappearance, the hunt for Madeleine has become one of the longest-running – and shockingly costliest – missing persons investigations in modern history. In the UK alone, an estimated £14 million has been spent by the British government on Operation Grange, the inquiry dedicated exclusively to finding her. And what has this unprecedented spending achieved? Precious little, if anyone were actually honest.

     

    The latest in a long line of “persons of interest,” German national Christian Brueckner, was initially paraded as a suspect by authorities. For years, he was presented as the ultimate suspect, with tantalising hints from investigators that finally, an answer was within reach. Yet, Brueckner was acquitted in another unconnected set of cases, and the public, once again, was left with the bitter aftertaste of a dead end lead. It begs the question: how much longer should this cycle of build-up and disappointment go on?

     

    Red herrings and endless questions – Who knows the truth?

    As the Brueckner debacle shows, the investigation has been marred by high-profile suspects who, in the end, turn out to be red herrings. Time after time, public interest is reignited with suggestions of “new leads,” only for hopes to be dashed. One can’t help but wonder: how many people out there actually know the truth? There must be individuals, witnesses, or former suspects who have held pieces of information for years – information that could bring the truth to light. Yet the silence remains deafening.

     

    For instance, many people still believe that multiple individuals connected to Praia da Luz on that fateful night might hold valuable insights. The complex network of witnesses, staff, and even other guests at the resort has never fully been disclosed, creating an air of secrecy. Why hasn’t this circle been fully investigated? Are there people shielding each other, protecting reputations, or perhaps even benefiting from the ambiguity? How many know the truth, and why hasn’t it come out?

     

    A media frenzy turned financial drain

    The McCann case has also become a staple of tabloid speculation, with sensationalism often driving the narrative. This has led to endless news cycles, yet almost no new information. We hear about a “breakthrough” only for it to turn out to be irrelevant, as in the case of Brueckner. In the meantime, the families and friends who might genuinely be connected to the case but entirely innocent are hounded by the media and given no peace.

     

    But beyond the voyeurism, there’s a real human cost here, as well. Imagine being a relative of the McCann family, constantly reliving the tragedy in the public eye. Or imagine being a potential witness or informant, wanting to come forward but stifled by the sensationalism. This relentless churn of media attention has not only stymied progress but has also created an environment where justice seems increasingly unlikely.

     

    Has the McCann investigation become a money pit?

    For those watching from the outside, it’s hard not to notice the amount of public funding channelled into the Madeleine McCann case. When Operation Grange was launched in 2011, the British government was already under pressure to solve the case once and for all. Yet, here we are, over a decade later, with little more than speculation, conjecture, and dead-end leads to show for it.

     

    To put things in perspective, most missing person cases do not receive this level of financial support, let alone an ongoing operation involving a team of detectives exclusively dedicated to one case. This extensive use of resources raises uncomfortable questions. At what point does this pursuit, as heartbreaking as it may be, become a fruitless money pit? What are the limits of such an investigation, and who determines when enough is enough?

     

    Christian Brueckner – The latest in a line of failed leads

    Christian Brueckner, a convicted criminal in Germany, was publicly labelled as a major suspect, with authorities insinuating that the case’s resolution was closer than ever. For months, the public followed the hints and statements, believing this might be the moment of closure. And yet, with Brueckner’s recent acquittal in Germany in a separate set of cases, the Madeleine McCann case seems as lost as it did in 2007.

     

    If Brueckner was, indeed, a red herring from day one – as many experts now believe – then why was he pursued so doggedly? Why was so much time and money invested in yet another dead-end? This latest misstep is emblematic of a larger issue within the investigation: a pattern of misdirection, fuelled by sensationalism, that leads nowhere. This mismanagement not only wastes resources but chips away at public faith in the investigation itself.

     

    The human toll on the McCann family (and the public)

    For the McCanns, the reality is one of endless agony and frustration. Kate and Gerry McCann, who once inspired global sympathy, are now met with mixed reactions, often due to the perception that the case has overshadowed other equally tragic disappearances. In many ways, the prolonged investigation has become a burden not only to them but also to the public, who are forced to confront the unsettling realization that justice may never come.

     

    Every failed lead, every dead-end, only exacerbates the sense of helplessness and frustration. It’s no longer just about finding Madeleine; it’s about finding peace and closure for everyone involved. When millions are spent, and years are lost, the cost is emotional as much as it is financial.

     

    Time for a conclusion – Is there a line between hope and reality?

    While hope is a powerful thing, there’s a line between hopeful pursuit and futile obsession. The resources poured into the Madeleine McCann case could have been allocated to other families seeking justice, to other unsolved cases that lack this level of media attention and public funding.

     

    If this investigation continues, should it be with a cap on resources? Should it be shifted to a lower priority? Should there be a different approach entirely – one that finally gives closure rather than more questions? These are uncomfortable questions, but they are necessary ones. It is, perhaps, time to consider the ethical limits of an investigation like this and the price we are willing to pay for an answer that may never come.

     

    Who will end the silence?

    The most pressing question of all remains: who knows the truth? With so many suspects, witnesses, and “people of interest” connected to Praia da Luz, it’s difficult to believe that no one holds a piece of this puzzle. Someone, somewhere, knows more than they’re sharing. But as years pass, the possibility of anyone coming forward diminishes. Whether out of fear, protection, or complicity, the truth remains hidden.

     

    The question is whether the investigation’s resources might be better spent encouraging those with critical information to come forward. Perhaps a shift in focus from pursuing elusive suspects to encouraging testimony might be what’s needed now. Without genuine answers, the cycle of disappointment and dead-end leads will only continue.

     

    Enough is enough – An end in sight?

    For over 15 years, the world has watched the Madeleine McCann case spiral into a costly, complicated quagmire. Every new suspect, every promising lead, seems to end the same way—nowhere. The recent acquittal of Christian Brueckner in a separate set of unconnected cases underscores the painful truth: Despite the millions spent and years lost, we’re no closer to finding Madeleine than we were on that fateful night in 2007.

     

    The time has come for a sober reassessment; not only of the investigation itself but of the resources and public interest invested in a case that has seen far more support than most.

     

    The McCann family deserve closure, as do the many families whose missing loved ones will never receive this level of attention or funding. It is time for an honest reckoning, one that prioritises the truth over sensationalism, closure over endless searching for a child many believe will never be found. The world may never fully understand what happened to Madeleine McCann, but we can, at the very least, decide when to let this chapter close. 

     

    Jane Monckton has worked for ‘The Steeple Times’ since its inception in 2012. She has followed the Madeleine McCann case with interest and has come to be outraged that resources allocated to Operation Grange are not reallocated to help find missing people who she believes can actually be found. Follow her on Twitter at @Jane_Monckton.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows on YouTube at @mjs2781/streams.

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    A warped sense of priorities… Madeleine McCann on a tennis court prior to her ‘disappearance’ in May 2007 and her parents out running near the resort she ‘disappeared’ in the days after her ‘disappearance.’
    A warped sense of priorities… Madeleine McCann on a tennis court prior to her ‘disappearance’ in May 2007 and her parents out running near the resort she ‘disappeared’ in the days after her ‘disappearance.’
    Living-it-up… Gerry McCann enjoying a round of golf (left); Kate McCann at Downing Street, London hobnobbing with Missing People CEO Martin Houghton-Brown, the Duchess of Gloucester and the then Home Secretary Theresa May on 23rd May 2012 (right).
    Living-it-up… Gerry McCann enjoying a round of golf (left); Kate McCann at Downing Street, London hobnobbing with Missing People CEO Martin Houghton-Brown, the Duchess of Gloucester and the then Home Secretary Theresa May on 23rd May 2012 (right).
    Brown nosing with a ragbag of rotten rubbish… Amongst those to have supported the McCanns have been especially gobby attention seekers including job wrecker Sir Richard Branson, “Chanel-clad” charity begins at home tin banger Baroness (Catherine) Meyer and her pompous arsehole late ex-husband Sir Christopher Meyer and job wrecking grabber Sir Philip Green.
    Brown nosing with a ragbag of rotten rubbish… Amongst those to have supported the McCanns have been especially gobby attention seekers including job wrecker Sir Richard Branson, “Chanel-clad” charity begins at home tin banger Baroness (Catherine) Meyer and her pompous arsehole late husband Sir Christopher Meyer and job wrecking grabber Sir Philip Green.
    Enough is enough – Missing still yet little to no police resources for their cases… Ben Needham disappeared in Kos, Greece on the 24th July 1991 aged 1 and his mother gets little help for her search; Martin Allen disappeared in London on 5th November 1979 aged 15 and though his brother, Kevin, keeps the case in the public eye as much as he can, he gets little to no help from the Metropolitan Police. Why won’t the police consider reallocating resources away from Operation Grange towards the search for other missing people? £14 million has been wasted for nothing, after all. What are they hiding?
    Enough is enough – Missing still yet little to no police resources for their cases… Ben Needham disappeared in Kos, Greece on the 24th July 1991 aged 1 and his mother gets little help for her search; Martin Allen disappeared in London on 5th November 1979 aged 15 and though his brother, Kevin, keeps the case in the public eye as much as he can, he gets little to no help from the Metropolitan Police. Why won’t the police consider reallocating resources away from Operation Grange towards the search for other missing people? £14 million has been wasted for nothing, after all. What are they hiding?
    Pictured above – Since croaked paedophile Sir Clement Freud (right) lunched with Gerry (left) and Kate McCann in Praia da Luz in Portugal in July 2007, two months after their daughter’s disappearance. Mrs McCann later praised the risotto as “the best she’d ever tasted.” Pictured below – Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at the launch of a book about Sir Clement’s brother, Lucian, titled ‘Breakfast With Lucian’ in 2013 by Geordie Greig. Also in the image are Nicholas Coleridge, Piers Morgan, an unknown child, Geordie Greig and Ariadne Calvo-Platero.
    Pictured above – Since croaked paedophile Sir Clement Freud (right) lunched with Gerry (left) and Kate McCann in Praia da Luz in Portugal in July 2007, two months after their daughter’s disappearance. Mrs McCann later praised the risotto as “the best she’d ever tasted.” Pictured below – Ghislaine Maxwell pictured at the launch of a book about Sir Clement’s brother, Lucian, titled ‘Breakfast With Lucian’ in 2013 by Geordie Greig. Also in the image are Nicholas Coleridge, Piers Morgan, an unknown child, Geordie Greig and Ariadne Calvo-Platero.
    In 2009, private investigators for Gerry and Kate McCann issued an E-FIT to the media of a woman they believed could be “potentially significant” to their investigation. She has never been found, but, speculation online (entirely unproven as accurate thus far) has regularly included: “She looks remarkably like Ghislaine Maxwell.” There is no suggestion that this is one and the same woman, but it would be ever so helpful if the convicted nonce sex trafficker Miss Maxwell came forward and cleared this up for once and for all.
    In 2009, private investigators for Gerry and Kate McCann issued an E-FIT to the media of a woman they believed could be “potentially significant” to their investigation. She has never been found, but, speculation online (entirely unproven as accurate thus far) has regularly included: “She looks remarkably like Ghislaine Maxwell.” There is no suggestion that this is one and the same woman, but it would be ever so helpful if the convicted nonce sex trafficker Miss Maxwell came forward and cleared this up for once and for all.

    Missing Madeleine – Questions STILL without answers… £14 million wasted on Operation Grange… Why continue? Why waste more? Why not help others?

    Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

    • Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

     

    • Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked” from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 7’?

     

    • Why were relevant mobile phone records never handed over to the authorities in spite of them potentially being useful to the search?

     

    • Why did the couple not use the babysitting service on offer in the holiday resort on the evening of 3rd May 2007 when they went out on the razzle dazzle with friends?

     

    • Why was the door to the apartment – which opened directly onto a public highway – left unlocked with three children aged under three years old alone inside?

     

    • Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared?

     

    • Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

     

    • Why did the McCanns repeatedly try to discredit the work of the sniffer dogs and their handlers?

     

     

     

    • Why have the McCanns attempted to ‘gag’ anyone who disputes their version of events – most especially Gonçalo Amaral?

     

    • Why, given over £14 million has been spent on this search to date, has nobody come forward with any sighting of ‘missing’ Madeleine McCann given the very, very substantial rewards on offer?

    Enough is enough – In December 2017, when £11 million of British taxpayers’ money had been spent towards the search for ‘missing’ Madeleine McCann, 86% of viewers of ITV1’s ‘Loose Women’ said the public purse should cease to fund the investigation. Now, in January 2023, with that sum now well in excess of £14 million (aside from the millions in private money also), it is time to allocate resources to the search for missing people who actually can be found, we would suggest. Shouldn’t 2024, when many suffer because of the cost-of-living crisis and many others remain missing without financial assistance for the search for the them, be the time that this pointless waste of funds finally ends?
  • Who Did Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell Sex Traffic Their Victims To? Unsealing of Epstein Documents, New Book About Maxwell

    Who Did Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell Sex Traffic Their Victims To? Unsealing of Epstein Documents, New Book About Maxwell

    As 200 pages of transcripts about the 2006 investigation into paedophile Jeffrey Epstein are unsealed, a new book – released Thursday – examines “who is permitted to speak” about sexual abuse by an abuse victim present at mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial; One key question still remains tellingly unanswered: “Who did these two monsters actually sex traffic their victims to?”

    Just after The Observer’s Stephanie Merritt reviewed abuse victim Lucia Osborne-Crowley’s new book about her experiences attending the trial of the convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell on Sunday, yesterday Peruvian born Circuit Judge The Honorable Luis Delgado of the 15th Judicial Court of Florida released nigh on 200 pages of previously embargoed documents concerning the 2006 investigation into allegations against Jeffrey Epstein.

     

    Explaining why yet more information about a megalomaniac monster he himself termed “the most infamous pedophile [sic] in American history” were being made public now, the judge observed:

     

    “Details in the record will be outrageous to decent people.”

     

    “The testimony taken by the Grand Jury concerns activity ranging from grossly unacceptable to rape – all of the conduct at issue is sexually deviant, disgusting, and criminal.”

     

    “Epstein is indeed notorious and infamous and is widely reported to have flaunted his wealth while cavorting with politicians, billionaires, and even British royalty.”

     

    “It is understandable that given those reports the public has a great curiosity about what was widely reported by news [agencies] as ‘special treatment’ regarding his prosecution.”

     

    Going further, Joseph Abruzzo, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for Palm Beach, added:

     

    “When I became Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller, I promised that I would leave no stone unturned to ensure the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury records.”

     

    “We are making these important documents available to the public to ensure transparency to the people of Palm Beach County that we serve every day, and to the international community that has closely followed the Epstein case.”

     

    “It was legislation our office championed that led to the release of these grand jury records… It is our hope that the release of these records gives peace of mind to our community and gives Jeffrey Epstein’s victims the closure they deserve.”

     

    The release of the documents came about after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill in February allowing such transcripts to be made public on or after 1st July 2024. Until now, Grand Jury documents normally remain permanently sealed.

     

    To buy a copy of The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell by Lucinda Osborne-Crowley for a discounted price whilst supporting independent bookshops, go to our Bookshop.org page by clicking here on mobile devices or via the embed below on desktop devices.

    Elsewhere, in her article for The Observer, Merritt shared of The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell – which is to be published on American Independence Day, Thursday 4th July:

     

    “At the heart of Lucia Osborne-Crowley’s account of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, The Lasting Harm, is a question about who is permitted to speak on the subject of sexual, particularly childhood, abuse. Osborne-Crowley is the author of two previous books, I Choose Elena and My Body Keeps Your Secrets, both of which examine the ongoing trauma of her childhood grooming by a sports coach, and a violent rape by a stranger at 15. This, then, is the indelible experience she brings to her court reporting on this most sensitive of issues.”

     

    Quoting Osborne-Crowley, Merritt added:

     

    “‘I have been accused many times of being a biased journalist because of my history of abuse. To that I say: yes, I am biased. Everybody is, whether we own it or not.’ She goes on to say, ‘the journalists I met at the Maxwell trial – mostly men in their 40s – who did not have any experience of sexual trauma are also biased. These issues have never affected their lives and so they subscribe to a patriarchal, societal and defensive narrative;’ one that does not, she argues, take into account the pervasive effects of trauma and shame on victims, particularly when it comes to speaking up about the crimes.”

     

    “For the duration, Osborne-Crowley got up at 1.30am to stand in line until the courthouse opened, to be sure that one of those seats would be hers; for almost five weeks she sat ‘a foot away’ from Maxwell while her victims were questioned. Despite this proximity, Maxwell exists as a shadowy figure in the courtroom sections, a constant presence who is also a notable absence. She doesn’t speak until the verdict, and speech attributed to her at the time of the abuse is taken from the testimony of the women.”

     

    “The Lasting Harm makes for painful reading, and the author is frank about what the process cost her personally – two stints in a trauma clinic as her immersion in the details of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes triggers her own memories. She is unequivocal about the purpose of her work – she quotes the investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, who says ‘journalism is about giving a voice to the powerless,’ and in this, Osborne-Crowley has succeeded admirably. The fact that none of Epstein’s male associates has yet been held to account suggests that there is a long way to go.”

     

    Both developments in this matter add to the narrative of knowledge about the vile crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, but one thing they continue to fail to do is this: They continue to keep the names of the powerful fellow monsters these two twisted toe rags sex trafficked their victims to firmly under wraps.

     

    Going further, one could observe, that whilst many names of presidents, politicians and personalities continue to swirl around in the context of this sordid case, nothing much seems to be done about bringing them to justice. It has been all too easy for the claim of “I knew them, but I didn’t know what they did” to be bandied around for too long now and whilst ‘names not proven of anything (yet)’ including the likes of ex-Barclays banker Jes Staley have fallen because of his financial links and film fiddler Harvey Weinstein was jailed for his own sexual crimes, so many others allegedly deeply connected to Epstein and Maxwell continue to thrive and indeed prosper on their own terms. Some of them may be innocent, but many of them most certainly are not.

     

    As I have said again and again, there will be no satisfaction until the day the actual co-conspirators are finally named and shamed and brought to book. The powerful and the privileged should not be allowed to be continue to think that they are above the law; it is time for true justice to be served.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his shows discussing true crime and all matter of other topics on YouTube at @mjs2781.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Harvey-Weinstein-Jeffrey-Epstein-Ghislaine-Maxwell
    A trio of sex fiends – Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
    Joseph Abruzzo Luis Delgado
    The lawmakers who revealed nigh on 200 pages more about Epstein’s 2006 legal wranglings – Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for Palm Beach Joseph Abruzzo and Circuit Judge The Honorable Luis Delgado of the 15th Judicial Court of Florida.
    Donald and Melania Trump Jeffrey Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell
    Was Melania Trump trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell? Jeffrey Epstein claimed to have been the one to have introduced the then Melania Knauss to Donald Trump. He was known to favour ‘girls’ of her type and it could indeed be true that Epstein met Knauss before Knauss met Trump though Wikipedia states that “the Kit Kat Club is often described as where they met.” They add: “The exact details of when and where [there first meeting] took place are unclear.”
    Debbie Staley Jes Staley
    Swivel eyed Deborah Nitzan Staley and her casino banker husband Jes Staley were such close associates of Jeffrey Epstein that they spent time on his Little St. James island. Of him, Wikipedia state: “In June 2023 it was reported that Staley wrote on December 26, 2009 – while Epstein was on house arrest for procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute in Florida – ‘Fun tonight. What do we do next?????’ Epstein replied saying his driver whom he described as ‘former dea [Drug Enforcement Administration]’ and ‘armed,’ would pick him up in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Epstein continued, ‘helicopter also available for a tour around , … remember I own the two big marinas.. yacht haven grand, in st thomas and the marina at red hook… you can use my atv’s jet ski ,gym etc.’ Later that month Staley wrote to Epstein, ‘Arrived at your harbor. Someday, we have to do this together.’” In November 2021, because of the stench associated with his links to Epstein, Staley was forced to resign from as CEO of Barclays.
    Rudy Giuliani
    On Hill.TV in July 2019, Rudy Giuliani claimed that the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case was “obviously going to implicate a lot of people –I can’t tell you who but it’s not going to end up with just Jeffrey Epstein.” Of the now disgraced, disbarred and bankrupted politician, in November 2022, crusading author Kirby Sommers remarked: “It’s clear that my research upset many of the people in the trafficking ring connected to Epstein/Maxwell. Seems so many are connected. Even Rudy Giuliani who was the Mayor of New York.”
    Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein
    Another close associate who was “particularly close” to Jeffrey Epstein was Peter Mandelson. Lord Mandelson – whom the paedophile nicknamed ‘Petie’ – stayed at Epstein’s New York ‘Paedo Palace’ whilst the financier was serving 18 months for soliciting prostitution from a minor and was also photographed with him at the since croaked deviant’s apartment in Paris in 2007 and in St Barts in 2005.
  • Talking Claudia Lawrence – ‘Crime Suspect’ on Talk TV 2024

    Talking Claudia Lawrence – ‘Crime Suspect’ on Talk TV 2024

    Matthew Steeples on discussing the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence fifteen years ago in York on TalkTV’s ‘Crime Suspect’ with esteemed former detective Peter Bleksley

    Earlier this month, I returned to News UK’s headquarters next to The Shard in London to be a guest, for the second time after appearing in February to discuss the ongoing Madeleine McCann case, on Peter Bleksley’s deservedly respected TalkTV Crime Suspect show.

     

    This time focused on the fifteenth anniversary of the literal ‘vanishing’ of a 35-year-old chef named Claudia Lawrence in the Heworth area of York, I appeared alongside the renowned criminologist and author Professor James Treadwell, the former police inspector and visiting lecturer at Leeds Trinity University Martin Holleran and the journalist and author of Gone: The Disappearance of Claudia Lawrence and Her Father’s Desperate Search for the Truth Neil Root.

     

    Aired first on TalkTV’s terrestrial and YouTube channels on the 5th April, the 21:22-minute version on the latter has been viewed nearly 130,000 times to date and focused on the key question: “Could there still be someone out there who knows what happened to the 35-year-old chef?”

     

    Aged just 35 at the time she disappeared into thin air on either the night of 18th March or the morning of the 19th March 2009, here is a case in which North Yorkshire Police – to date – have performed over 48 video recorded interviews under caution, but come to utterly no conclusion.

     

    Having similarities to the case of the also ‘vanished’ Australian Marion Barter in that no real evidence of her having ‘existed’ after the 19th March 2009 has ever come to light, I focused my commentary on Crime Suspect on the media portrayal of Claudia Lawrence and asked: “Would she have been made out to have been promiscuous and a drunk if she had been a man?”

     

    As has also been pointed out by Joan Lawrence, the likely victim of murder’s mother, who has subsequently received an OBE for her efforts in bringing about the passing of the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 – which modified the law in order to allow the appointment of guardians for the affairs of missing people – the “intense” and “vicious stories” about what might have occurred helped nobody.

     

    In Claudia Lawrence: A Mother’s Story, a four-part series first aired on the BBC in March this year, the problems of allowing untruths about what actually occurred to be spread is further explained, but what is now required is for a community to come together and to finally realise that it is time to put aside past allegiances. It is time to do justice for this missing-for-fifteen-years lady and her family.

     

    To watch the full-length version of the Claudia Lawrence ‘Crime Suspect’ programme on TalkTV, click here.

    Follow Peter Bleksley on Twitter at @PeterBleksley, Martin Holleran at @Future110, Neil Root at @NEILROOTWriter and Professor James Treadwell at @James_Treadwell.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples and watch his current nightly show on YouTube at 8.30pm daily.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    The YouTube version of the show; for a longer version first shown on TalkTV’s terrestrial channel, click here.
    On Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “It’s been 15 years since chef Claudia Lawrence vanished into thin air in Heworth, York. What do you think happened to her?” He added the hashtags: #ClaudiaLawrence #Heworth #York #Yorkshire #chef #missingpeople #missing #vanish #vanished #murder #accident #death #strangecases #ClaudiasLaw #anniversary and offered four options. 78.7% of respondents favoured the answer: “Killed, someone she knew” whilst only 6.5% believe that she “disappeared” seeking a “new life.”
    Claudia Lawrence vanished
    Claudia Lawrence was born on 27th February 1974 in Malton in the North Riding of Yorshire. She vanished on either the evening of the 18th March 2009 or the morning of 19th March 2009 in Heworth, York. She has never been seen or heard from again since.
    Claudia Lawrence disappearance mind map
    A mind map produced by Matthew Steeples about the case. Whilst it is just a starting point, it illustrates the links between different members of the community of Heworth, York and the presumed victim of murder most likely. It is now time for members of that community to think of justice and reexamine their allegiances; time has passed and surely now, it is time for those that clearly know to finally tell the truth about what occurred on 18th March 2009.
    Crime Suspect Peter Bleksley James Treadwell Neil Root Matthew Steeples Martin Holleran
    ‘Crime Suspect’ aired its programme about the vanished-likely-murdered chef on 5th April 2024 with Peter Bleksley as host. The daughter of a solicitor and town mayor has been missing now for over 15 years and not one trace of her has been found to date.
    The Nag's Head Heworth
    During the programme, there was much discussion of Miss Lawrence’s activities at a pub just six doors from her home, The Nag’s Head in Heworth, as well as at other hostelries she frequented.
  • Monster of the Moment 2023 – Twittering Troll Alex Belfield

    Monster of the Moment 2023 – Twittering Troll Alex Belfield

    As former BBC host Alex Belfield is forced to apologise to the BBC host Jeremy Vine, we call out this reprehensible ratbag for his raging rant against the victim of rape-murder at the home of Michael Barrymore, Stuart Lubbock

    It’s not surprising that the BBC Radio 2 and Channel Five host Jeremy Vine got an “apology” – admittedly one forced out of an already jailed degenerate Twitter troll of epic proportions named Alex Belfield – yesterday. Frankly, Vine deserved far more and frankly, Belfield has now again been shown simply to be someone whom the stocks are too good for.

     

    Cowardly stalker Bellfield – who used to tour the country spouting utter baloney with his would-do-anything-for-a-dime sidekick Katie Hopkins – was convicted in September 2022 and sentenced to 5 years and 26 weeks in prison for “subjecting his victims to an avalanche of hatred.”

     

    At sentencing, this reprehensible piece of rubbish was told by Mr Justice Saini: “This was not traditional stalking, but your methods were just as effective a way of intimidating victims and in many ways much harder to deal with.”

     

    Belfield – whose tactics included publishing Vine’s friends and associates telephone numbers online and falsely claiming the presenter had been “dishonest” over a memorial for another radio executive, John Myers – will now likely never return to the respectable spheres, but it was another video shared with The Steeple Times that has truly outraged this morning.

     

    Sent to us by the people behind the Screwed Politics YouTube channel, this particular 6:13-minute clip features ‘Bellend’ poisonously pontificating about the 31st March 2001 rape and murder of father-of-two Stuart Lubbock at the Roydon, Essex bungalow then owned by the disgraced television host Michael Barrymore – a weird and warped individual who filmed himself throwing himself in a bin back in January.

     

    The noxious nonsense spouted by Alex Belfield is worth transcribing for only one reason and that is to highlight it and him for what it truly is – toxic trash. We share it below with annotations in italics correcting the very many factual inaccuracies and lies told by the proven criminal Belfield.

     

    Insulting the since deceased father of the victim, Belfield began:

     

    “Lubbock’s father is obsessed [no, he was simply a grieving father who tried but did not get justice for the rape and murder of his son before he died]… Here’s the reality: His son went to a club which happened to be a gay club. His son drank with a load of gay guys [the group of 9 individuals that met at the Millennium Club that night and went back to Barrymore’s bungalow included several females also].”

     

    “His son chose to go back by his own choice in a car to Michael Barrymore’s house – who was openly gay at that point and he chose to go in the swimming pool surrounded by gay guys [factually incorrect, it remains unknown how Mr Lubbock entered that pool] and he also chose to be at a party where cocaine was taken and alcohol was being drunk.”

     

    “Stuart Lubbock put himself in that situation [incorrect, he went to a party, he did not likely wish himself raped and murdered]… We have to conclude that Stuart Lubbock was gay [not proven] and that he wanted to be there.”

     

    “Lubbock was gay [not proven, he was a father of two known for having had heterosexual relationships] and he wanted to be there… We have to conclude that Stuart Lubbock was gay and wanted to be there.”

     

    “The most depressing thing about this story is that Stuart Lubbock’s father, Terry Lubbock, refuses to accept that his son was gay [no, the most depressing thing about this story is that a father of two was raped and murdered at a party attended by 9 people and 8 of them lived and 8 of them failed to tell the truth]. This has to be the backbone of this story and the reason there is so much venom on Terry Lubbock’s side. I beg of you: Accept your son was gay. He chose to go to a gay club. He chose to go in the car. He chose to go back to the house of a gay man who was serving cocaine and alcohol [he did not, however, we suggest chose to be raped and murdered].”

     

    Turning to self-serving Barrymore fleeing the scene before the police arrived, Belfield prattled:

     

    “Michael Barrymore was not running from the truth. He was protecting himself from a PR disaster [the actions of someone completely free of any association with what had occurred at a property he then owned?]… The fire is being fueled by Stuart Lubbock’s dad.”

     

    Going further this delusional dunce added:

     

    “I beg of Stuart Lubbock’s dad one thing: Please grieve for your son. Please get help and counselling over the death of your son, but please accept one thing – that Stuart Lubbock was gay [how on earth would Belfield know either way?].”

     

    “He was not forced into a car. He was not made to go to a gay club. He was not pulled into a pool [he did end up raped and murdered by at least two of those present and yet Belfield ignores that very important fact]. He was not forced to take drugs or drink alcohol [again unproven]. He chose to do all of those things [again incorrect, Stuart Lubbock most certainly would not have wished to have been raped and murdered].”

     

    Most graphically and most disgustingly, Belfield then turned to the horrific and gruesome injuries sustained by the victim of rape and murder at the home of Michael Barrymore and sickly stated:

     

    “We don’t know that he was forced to take something in his anus that was large. He could have liked taking something. He could chose [sic] to or he may have liked taking something in his backside that caused him such horrific injuries. This wasn’t a rape victim [totally unproven and totally outrageous, sickening and wrong, shame on Belfield].”

     

    Turning back to Barrymore, whom the hopefully never to be seen again on the BBC or elsewhere Belfield clearly liked toadying upto, this clearly equally of unsound mind lunatic shared:

     

    “Please leave this tortured man [Barrymore] alone… Leave Michael Barrymore alone [Barrymore received a sum said to be £60,000 for an interview about the rape-murder when he was interviewed by Piers Morgan]. This is tittle-tattle TV to get ratings and Twitter reaction and social media chit-chat at the expense of a man who is undoubtedly mentally ill and abused by this story and it is blown up every time by Stuart Lubbock’s father.”

     

    “You have seen the tweets. This is not a wild accusation. This is what he does on his Twitter and it is uncalled for. It’s unedifying and it’s unnecessary. Leave Michael Barrymore alone… Stop this. This is a witch hunt. It’s disgusting.”

     

    In conclusion, today, we respond for the sane majority; the only “witch hunt” that was “unedifying” and “disgusting” that was orchestrated on Twitter was orchestrated by a vomit inducing piece of vileness named Alex Belfield. Jeremy Vine and others have rightly been vindicated in calling out this cretinous creep and now we again remind Michael Barrymore and his cohorts of what they need to do: Man-up and tell the truth about what you all know what occurred on 31st March 2001.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers.

     

    If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l9wDaQR5eo

    Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to man-up and tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001

    Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock. Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also.

     

    Barrymore claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”

     

    Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.

     

    Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.

     

    James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”

     

    Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”

     

    Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body and is now in his 50s. He has variously lived, supposedly, in Blackpool and Cheshire and has worked as a coach driver also.

     

    Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”

     

    Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).

     

    Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”

     

    In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.

     

    Jimmy-Savile
    The disgraced entertainer Michael Barrymore pictured ‘worshiping’ Sir Jimmy Savile in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in January 2006. Of the late paedophile, at the time, the self-centred ex ‘Strike It Lucky’ host disgustingly declared: “When he came in I was blown away because it’s him and he never lets you down. I didn’t think seeing Jim and hearing Jim talking and being so personal and kind to me. I started to well up in there and thought here we go.”
    Roydon-bungalow-1
    The scene of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB. The property was most recently sold for £1.33 million in 2017 whilst Barrymore had paid £392,500 for it in 1998 and was forced to sell it for £802,000 in 2005 to cover costs related to his bankruptcy.
    Eight-suspects-murder-of-Stuart-Lubbock
    The eight people who went to party on 31st March 2001 who didn’t die. Why won’t any of them tell the truth and why has one of them changed his name?
    Jonathan-Kenney
    Jonathan Kenney – a now 53-year-old – was the ‘entertainer’s’ lover at the time of the killing. He is said to now be a coach driver, resides supposedly in Cheshire and has most curiously changed his name. One is left wondering why.
    Blocking-Michael-Barrymore-Stuart-Lubbock-Hitler-murder-rape
    Michael Barrymore disgustingly pretending to be Hitler (left) and victim of rape and murder at his home, Stuart Lubbock (right).
    Michael-Barrymore-Marie-Claire-Baroness-von-Alvensleben
    Michael Barrymore pictured rolling around on the floor off-his-skull with the convicted racist bigot Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben.
  • Media Matters Mark Alexander – High Court Victory For Sir Terry Waite Supported Prisoner

    Media Matters Mark Alexander – High Court Victory For Sir Terry Waite Supported Prisoner

    As humanitarian hero Terry Waite is knighted, a prisoner he has campaigned in support of, Mark Alexander, finally gets good news with a landmark judgment at the High Court

    This morning, in King Charles III’s clearly well thought out Birthday Honours list, a genuinely wonderful gentleman, Terry Waite received what he’s described as one of his life’s “peak” achievements when this former envoy for the Church of England was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for his services to charity.

     

    The now elevated Sir Terry modestly commented that he was “really amazed that I’ve got it; I’m getting on, but I’m still working at 84.” He added: “I’m still very active” and yesterday came good news also for a campaign the former hostage has long been involved with, that of the case of the clearly dubious conviction of Mark Alexander.

     

    Sir Terry has repeatedly suggested the September 2010 conviction of Alexander of the murder of his conman father in Buckinghamshire on a date unknown between September 2009 and February 2010 to be based on “circumstantial evidence” and that this is a case being in need of being “reviewed without further delay.”

     

    Yesterday in London, the High Court decided a legal challenge against the government over a jail interview by telephone by journalist Robin Eveleigh with Alexander was “misdirected and irrational.” Mr Justice Andrew Baker said a decision by the governor of HMP Coldingley in Surrey, where Alexander is currently held, should be “quashed” and added that “the claimant’s request [will need to be considered] afresh.”

     

    Responding, through the ‘Justice for Mark Alexander’ campaign website, Mark Alexander announced:

     

    “Today’s ruling is an important milestone in the fight for an open, transparent and accountable justice system in which prisoners’ voices are heard; wrongful convictions can be properly scrutinised; and our free press is able to work without resistance or obfuscation from government. More needs to be done to address other systemic failings at the heart of our penal and justice system, but today at least marks a step in the right direction and will hopefully enable more recognition to be given to miscarriages of justice here in the UK.”

     

    Going further, Eveleigh explained:

     

    “The role of the media in highlighting and exposing miscarriages of justice cannot be overstated. The BBC’s pioneering investigative documentary Rough Justice led to 18 convictions being overturned.”

     

    “Mr Alexander’s story is never going to reach the audience it needs and deserves via print media, nor would a print media commission or commissions go anywhere near supporting the volume of work required to investigate his case thoroughly. It is telling that in response to the quashing of Adnan Syed’s conviction – following the global attention his case received through the American podcast Serial – veteran BBC journalist Justin Webb told Radio 4’s Today programme that podcasts were now ‘the place to go’ for innocent people wrongly convicted.”

     

    Mark Alexander’s grandmother added:

     

    “As a family we need this documentary to happen. We all feel it can bring about fair justice, to prove Mark’s innocence and clear his name. I will always support Mark, because I know in my heart that he is innocent.”

     

    Production of the podcast series about Mark Alexander’s case by Robin Eveleigh now ought to be given the go-ahead and this, a conviction based very much on a very much botched investigation, must now be reexamined. Such should be done urgently, but given how slowly the wheels of justice move in once Great Britain, sadly, don’t hold your breath.

     

    Editor’s note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    A message from our editorial team – Thank you for reading this article. We’re more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus and the cost-of-living crisis impacts our advertisers. If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by supporting our work via Patreon.

     

    Pictured top – Mark Alexander at his graduation ceremony with Sir Terry Waite KCMG CBE.

     

    To follow the ‘Justice for Mark Alexander’ group on Facebook, click here, and to follow the campaign seeking a review of the case on Twitter go to @PatientCaptive. Prominent supporters include the former Conservative MP for Westminster The Rt. Hon. Mark Field, the Reverend Canon Grant Fellows, the Right Reverend Bishop Tim Stevens and the hostage-turned-humanitarian Sir Terry Waite KCMG CBE. Supplied images: © http://freeMarkAlexander.org (CC BY-ND 4.0).

     

    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Is it time for the case of Mark Alexander @PatientCaptive to be reinvestigated?” He linked to this article and added: “Context of murder conviction based on circumstantial evidence only according to Sir Terry Waite in today’s ‘The Steeple Times.’” By 12 noon on Saturday 17th June 2023, the very clear majority of respondents favoured the answer: “Yes; Mark Alexander is innocent.”
    Mark Alexander
    Found guilty without any forensic evidence and with the help of ‘Midsomer Murders-esque’ “suspicious neighbours primarily, supporters of Mark Alexander rightly highlight that the prosecution withheld critical information from trial that included that four potential suspects – who police never bothered to speak to – were never even mentioned to the jury. Going further and summing up what led to the conviction of Alexander, Progressing Prisoners Maintaining Innocence (PPMI), observed: “Another example of typical factors in a wrongful conviction: no forensic evidence, impossible time frame for the crime to be committed, witness put off by the police, important witnesses not interviewed, lurid allegations in the press published before they could be countered, all racked up by such sad personal circumstances.”

    Issues with the 2010 murder conviction and jailing for life with a minimum of 16 years of Mark Alexander:

    • Not one iota of forensic evidence links the convicted now 35-year-old to the murder and much of the police case against him was based on the word of “suspicious neighbours” with attitudes akin to characters from the TV drama series Midsomer Murders.
    • On the homepage of the campaign supporting him, it is stated: “Mark has always maintained his innocence… Mark was found guilty on the basis of doubt created about his version of events rather than any evidence of his involvement in a murder. No such evidence exists. There is no known cause, or date, of death – and there were no traces of DNA, blood, or even fingerprints linking Mark to the crime.”
    • The convicted man’s father, Samuel, had a string of at least eleven aliases and was a known confidence trickster.
    • The deceased man was cautioned for shoplifting in 1995 and had been involved in mortgage frauds involving a number of properties. He was described by his son tellingly when he remarked: “Dad always seemed to be running or hiding from something.”
    • Samuel Alexander lied also to his son about what had happened to his mother and cruelly told him she had died of cancer. The pair were only reunited after Mark Alexander’s arrest and it then became known that Samuel Alexander had also cheated her as part of a property scam also.
    • It was also revealed at sentencing that the deceased pensioner spent “long hours on the computer surfing teenage chat rooms and sex websites, sometimes posing as a man in his late teens or early 20.” Could it be that he upset someone in the process and could they be his true killer?
    • Mark Alexander has produced evidence showing that there were four potential suspects working at his father’s home around the time of his death. Police never spoke to these suspects and the jury were never made aware of them.
    • The convicted man has never admitted his guilt of this shocking crime in spite of the fact that in doing so he could have seen his sentence reduced.
    • Using human rights laws, Mark Alexander was, in March 2020, able to finally obtain files documenting his father’s multiple identities from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs. He became supposedly the first person in Britain to achieve such access and now also, according to the Daily Mail’s Alice Cachia and Robin Eveleigh: “[The Justice for Mark Alexander’ campaign] are also developing new mobile phone cell site evidence which they hope will provide proof of Alexander’s movements around the time of his father’s death.” They hint that this will show he could not possibly have been present at the time of the murder and burial.
    • Mark Alexander told The Mirror’s crime editor Tom Pettifor in May 2020: “I’ve always always maintained my innocence, you just assume the system will work, but we didn’t have enough time or evidence to prove it, particularly against the story the prosecution were spinning… Nothing will ever justify what they did to [my father], but I just need some answers.”

    Humanitarian hero Sir Terry Waite KCMG CBE’s 22nd November 2022 message in full:

    Over the course of my life I have been in contact with many prisoners who claim they have been unjustly convicted.

     

    I fully appreciate that not all who approach me are truthful, but it is said that between six and seven percent of those convicted are innocent and ought not to be in jail.

     

    I fully understand what a difficult task it is for an innocent prisoner to appeal. It is a long and costly process. It is also difficult for those who have to determine the fate of a man or woman claiming wrongful conviction.

     

    I have known Mark Alexander for almost ten years. I have studied his case and spoken personally with him many times. The evidence against him was circumstantial, as was pointed out by the judge in his case.

     

    I find it difficult to believe that a complete forensic examination was conducted before the jury found him guilty by majority verdict. In recent years, new evidence has emerged which throws even further doubt on the safety of his conviction.

     

    Alas, the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slowly and Mark, still a young man, remains incarcerated – denied access to an open prison because, in the eyes of the authorities, he refuses to accept his guilt.

     

    In the past 12 years, he has achieved academic distinction, but his continued imprisonment in a secure establishment means he may not be able to study for a doctorate.

     

    Mark’s case certainly raises reasonable doubt in my mind and, ought to be reviewed without further delay.

     

    Mark-Alexander-Samuel-Alexander
    Mark Alexander and his late father Samuel Alexander.
    2-Prospect-Close-Drayton-Parslow
    The scene of the burial (but not necessarily the killing) of Samuel Alexander – 2 Prospect Close, Drayton Parslow, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK17 0JB.
    2-Prospect-Close-Drayton-Parslow-aerial-view
    An aerial shot of the property.
    Documentary-evidence-Samuel-Alexander-fraud
    Documentary evidence of Samuel Alexander using aliases that show him to have been a man capable of perpetrating fraud and deception.
    Terry-Waite-Mark-Alexander-HM-Prison-Coldingley
    On Friday 28th September 2018, Mark Alexander played at a charity concert for The Howard League of Penal Reform at HM Prison Coldingley in Bisley, Surrey. Terry Waite CBE read from ‘Out of the Silence,’ his book about his 1,763 days in captivity from 1987 to 1991 in Lebanon.
  • Essex Police – GUILTY As Charged In Jeremy Bamber Case

    Essex Police – GUILTY As Charged In Jeremy Bamber Case

    As Essex Police are found guilty of failing to refer a 2020 complaint by Jeremy Bamber, could his case be sent back to the Court of Appeal?

    Essex Police are widely known for bungling investigations. Aside from very clearly bungling the investigation into the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock at the home of the disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore, this 3,842-officer strong force has now been exposed for having mishandled complaints in the Jeremy Bamber White House Farm murder case.

     

    With news that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has found the force guilty of breaching their statutory duty by not referring 29 serious complaints to them about the case comes proof yet again of disgraceful incompetence at the very least and far worse potentially at the very worst.

     

    Responding on Monday this week from His Majesty’s Prison Wakefield, 62-year-old Bamber told the Daily Gazette and Essex County Standard’s trainee reporter Daniel Rees:

     

    “I think the report is strong enough to assist the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) to get my case sent back to the Court of Appeal, I am hoping in the next six to eight weeks.”

     

    “Essex Police has failed in its statutory duty in not investigating these complaints and not sending this matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”

     

    “These are serious complaints. I have sent this complaint to Essex Police, the Attorney General, the Home Office, the CPS but everyone has blanked me and has done nothing. I never expected the IOPC to come out so strongly and say Essex Police failed in their statutory duty.”

     

    “They have dismissed me so many times. It has been 38 years but this is the endgame – I genuinely believe that.”

     

    Going further, in comments shared in the Mirror this morning, Bamber added:

     

    “I firmly expect that the freedom that was so unjustly taken from me will soon be restored.”

     

    “After 36 years it can now be proven with absolute certainty I did not burn my dad with the rifle barrel or the rifle’s sound moderator, as my trial jury were misled into believing.”

     

    Unsurprisingly asked for a response, “Essex Police declined to comment on the matter.” Shame on them for yet again trying to sweep this serious matter under the carpet. May Jeremy Bamber – a man who has never waivered in stating his claim that he is innocent of the 1985 slayings of his adoptive parents, his adoptive sister and her two sons at their familial home at White House Farm in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex – now finally get the review of his case that he truly deserves.

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    To learn more about the case, click here to view the official Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign website.

     

    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “As the Independent Office for Police Conduct is found guilty of failing to refer 29 serious complaints about the Jeremy Bamber case, will he be cleared and freed?” By 11:30am on Wednesday 17th May, the majority of respondents favoured the answer: “Yes; about time too.”

    Some questions Essex Police plainly need to answer regarding this case… Including some new ones that could lead to to the exoneration of jailed for 36 years and still protesting his innocence Jeremy Bamber

    • What happened to a suicide note allegedly left by Sheila Caffell that was initially referenced by police and then disappeared?
    • Why did Sheila Caffell not have rigor mortis when officers discovered her body?
    • Why was blood still gaping from Miss Caffell’s body when it was found?
    • Why was the bible found by the body of Miss Caffell not used in evidence and why was that bible destroyed by police also?
    • Why are there different accounts about how many bodies were discovered on the ground floor of the farmhouse?
    • How could Jeremy Bamber be the killer if police officers repeatedly detected movement inside White House Farmhouse whilst he was stood with them outside?
    • Why was the silencer supposedly used in the shootings not discovered immediately when police entered the residence?
    • Why did scratch marks supposedly made in the kitchen of the house by that silencer not appear in the first photographs taken at the crime scene? How were they actually made in order that they appeared in later imagery?
    • How could Jeremy Bamber be the killer if he made a phone call from his Goldhanger home 3.5 miles away moments after his father had called police from White House Farmhouse to say that his daughter had “gone berserk” with a gun?
    • Why did Essex Police hide hundreds of thousands of pages of key documentation including police logs and crime scene photographs from being shared during both the 1986 trial and the 2002 appeal?
    • Could the AGA be responsible for the burn marks on Nevill Bamber and if so, why did Essex Police move bodies at the crime scene?
    • Why did Essex Police so push the narrative of Jeremy Bamber’s former lover and known thief Julie Mugford given they knew shew had been sold her story for £25,000 to the now defunct News of the World with the payment to be received only if he was convicted?
    • Why did Essex Police not investigate why other relatives supported the narrative of Jeremy Bamber as killer given those very relatives only benefitted financially based on Jeremy Bamber’s ultimate conviction?

     

    White-House-Farm-Pages-Lane-Tolleshunt-DArcy-Maldon-Essex-CM9-8AA
    The scene of the murders during the night of 6th and 7th August 1985: White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA.
    Nevill-and-June-Bamber
    Jeremy Bamber’s adoptive parents, Ralph and June Bamber, and the grave where they are buried. Could he finally be exonerated of their killings in 2023?
    White-House-Farm-kitchen-AGA
    In November 2022, Phillip Boyce – who has worked on high profile investigations as a forensic scientist for over 30 years –claimed that Essex Police could have “changed the evidence” in the case by moving the body of Nevill Bamber before official photographs of the scene were taken. If true, the three burn marks on Mr Bamber’s back would not have been inflicted by the hot end of a rifle but instead by his dead body being left lying against the AGA and its hot handles instead causing the burns. In photographs taken by police, shown to the trial jury at Chelmsford Crown Court in 1986, Nevill Bamber was instead seen slumped over an overturned chair in the kitchen.
    Bedroom
    One of the bedrooms at the farm; a truly horrific scene that will go down in history as a murder most horrid. If it is proven that Jeremy Bamber was NOT the killer, this case will also go down in history as one of Britain’s worst miscarriages of justice.
    True-Crime-Newsquest-Jeremy-Bamber-November-2022
    On 24th November 2022, the new True Crime Newsquest mini-series ‘White House Farm murders – Is Jeremy Bamber Innocent?’ featured in an article by Jody Doherty-Cove. In it, Tom Dalby, a reporter on the Colchester Gazette and Essex County Standard, is quoted to say: “The support Bamber gets in prison – in 2017 he told us he [got] about 100 letters per week from supporters, 500 Christmas cards. There is this level of support he still gets from people locally… There are people who are very clear he is innocent.” In the programme also, former detective Mark Williams-Thomas quotes Essex Police Acting Chief Detective Michael Ainsley as having written in 1985: “On my return from annual leave, I obviously enquired as to the situation with the murders… [I was assured] the evidence indicated that Sheila [Caffell] was responsible.”
    Destroyed-evidence-Sheila-Caffell
    In April 2020, ‘The Steeple Times’ reported that “further questions about the conduct of Essex Police [were] raised as it [was] revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm on the night of the 1985 murders. The 20th March 2000 letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP and Sheila Caffell is truly a shocking example of a bungling balls-up.
    Bible-Sheila-Caffell-destroyed-evidence
    The clearly left open bible next to the body of Sheila Caffell was photographed by Essex Police, but was then not submitted as evidence and destroyed. A supposed suicide note also disappeared and countless other evidence was clearly tampered with. “What motivation did those processing the scene have to do this?” is a question that Essex Police and prosecutors have repeatedly failed to answer.
    Peter-Tatchell
    Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, a longtime supporter of Jeremy Bamber, tweeted about the case on 7th March 2021. He remarked: “Is this [the] greatest miscarriage of justice?” and previously in 2017, he wrote to the then chief constable of Essex Police, Stephen Kavanagh, to highlight the “grave injustice” of the force’s withholding and destroying evidence with regard to the White House Farm murders.
    Michael-Ainsley-evidence
    Jeremy Bamber’s legal team have alleged that the senior investigating officer in the case, Michael Ainsley, took documents relating to the case to his home in 2010 and destroyed them in spite of “knowing there was an active appeal underway.” Surely, now, it is time for a reinvestigation of this case at the very least if faith in the British justice system is to be retained.
  • Intimidation Tactics At Work… Luke Mitchell’s Mother’s Caravan Storage Site Burnt To Ground

    Intimidation Tactics At Work… Luke Mitchell’s Mother’s Caravan Storage Site Burnt To Ground

    Matthew Steeples asks: “Are intimidation tactics at work with a suspected arson attack on the caravan storage site formerly owned by the mother of Luke Mitchell?” and speaks with Dr Sandra Lean and Shaun Attwood about this most curious case

    On Friday, the caravan storage site formerly owned by Corrine Mitchell, the mother of Luke Mitchell, was mysteriously torched.

     

    Whilst Mrs Mitchell, whose son was convicted of killing his then girlfriend Jodi Jones in 2003, no longer owns the aforementioned property in Midlothian, that it was likely the subject of an arson attack is indicative of how passions continue to run high in a case where many believe the wrong man was convicted.

     

    Speaking exclusively to The Steeple Times on Saturday evening, Dr Sandra Lean remarked:

     

    “Almost twenty years after the murder of 14-year-old Jodi Jones in Easthouses, Midlothian, a building was set ablaze in a nearby field on Friday, 17th March 2023. Gas bottles inside the building could be heard exploding from half a mile away and residents in houses directly across the street were terrified – there was a petrol station right next door.”

     

    “But what do the two events – the murder of Jodi Jones and the burning of an apparently random building, have in common? On the surface, nothing. The building and the land on which it sits belong to the local council. But that is now. Until just over two years ago, the building was the former shop and workshop of a caravan sales business – Scotts Caravans – belonging Corinne Mitchell – the mother of the boy convicted of Jodi’s murder, Luke Mitchell.”

     

    “Luke has always protested his innocence, but, such was the level of hostility and hatred instigated by the media coverage of the case, both at the time and over the years since, that Scotts Caravans was targeted repeatedly.”

     

    “After Luke was convicted, a deliberately started fire destroyed a large number of caravans stored at the site. After his appeal failed, another fire destroyed the remainder. Corinne Mitchell, who was never convicted of any wrongdoing – whose only ‘crime’ was continuing to try to tell the world that her son was innocent – lost everything. Her home, her business, her son, her health.”

     

    “She was, after her son, the most hated person in the area. In the end, she was homeless and penniless, living in the corrugated tin building that had once been the shop and workshop area of her thriving business. For six years, she lived there with no electricity, no running water, no toilet, no heating and no money.”

     

    “When Channel Five filmed a documentary about the case – and the horrific circumstances in which Corinne was living – Midlothian Council finally housed her. The documentary attracted a huge amount of new – and this time, positive – attention to the case.”

     

    “Local people were furious to discover they had been misled as the truth about the case began to be exposed – dishonesty by witnesses close to the victim’s family which deflected attention from them and guided it towards Luke. It was easy to do back in 2003 – the media decided, from the off, that he was Jodi’s killer, naming and photographing him, at the age of just 15, telling readers he was ‘the only suspect.’ Two ex-detectives in the documentary concluded otherwise – there were, they discovered, others much closer to the victim’s family, who should have aroused far more suspicion than Luke Mitchell.”

     

    “For two years, debates have raged about this case, both locally and throughout Scotland. But in December last year, more wrongdoing was exposed – this time, Police Scotland were caught, red-handed, destroying evidence that could have taken the case back to the court of appeal and seen the conviction of Luke Mitchell overturned. Local attention turned to those identified in the documentary as other, potential ‘persons of interest.’ Those people fought back – there have been reports of threats, harassment and intimidation by those people, towards people now speaking out in support of Luke. Tensions, once again, were running high.”

     

    “And then, on Friday, the last remaining reminder of Scotts caravans was set alight. Locals took to social media in droves, concluding that this was an act of outright intimidation, intended to scare those fighting to have the case re-examined, into silence. To hurt and punish Corinne Mitchell again, for having the audacity to stand by her son. If that was the intention, it did neither. While the symbolism wasn’t lost on many, ultimately, an old, abandoned building belonging to the council was burned to the ground and the campaign to have Luke Mitchell’s case re-examined carries on unhindered.”

     

    Going further and also speaking exclusively to The Steeple Times this morning, the podcaster Shaun Attwood very clearly added:

     

    “Everyone I have interviewed who has been in prison with Luke Mitchell has stated that they truly believe he is innocent.”

     

    Today, I join with those demanding further investigation into this matter. Whether he is innocent or guilty, the potentially unsafe case of the conviction of Luke Mitchell requires a complete reinvestigation.

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “Was the fire on Friday at the caravan site formerly owned by the mother of Luke Mitchell a signal of intimidation at a time when Corinne Mitchell and others are campaigning for a review of the case of the murder of Jodi Jones?” As of 11:00am on Sunday 19th March 2023, a very clear majority of respondents (84%) favoured the second of the two options: “Yes, a definite warning.”
    Fire
    The fire that took hold at Scotts Caravans on Friday 17th March 2023. Was this an accident or was it arson?
    Jodi Jones
    If the wrong man is indeed in jail for the 2003 murder of Jodi Jones, her killer is likely still alive and still at large and still evading justice. If that is the case, Lothian and Borders Police have a lot of questions to answer as to why they didn’t correctly deal with the evidence available to them.
  • All That Glitters… Jim Davidson Should Apologise Over Sickening Gary Glitter Remarks

    All That Glitters… Jim Davidson Should Apologise Over Sickening Gary Glitter Remarks

    Matthew Steeples suggests Jim Davidson should admit he got it wrong in suggesting returned to jail paedophile Gary Glitter was a “remorseful’ man who “looked ready to start a new life”

    This morning, the washed-up wazzock and all-round scumbag that is Jim Davidson OBE was trending on Twitter after an interview with the ‘Mouth of the Sewer’ that is GB News’ Dan Wootton last night.

     

    Whilst Davidson – a foul-mouthed ‘5×3’ (five kids by three of his five wives) – used the interview to bang on about “smug” Gary Lineker and how he “never particularly felt welcome” at the BBC, he neglected to comment on his thoughts on the real trending news, that of the filthy paedophile Gary Glitter being returned to jail after just 38 days in a bail hostel after breaching his licence terms.

     

    Glitter – who was caught and photographed by another bail hostel resident using a smartphone to access the ‘Dark Web’ via something called ‘The Onion’ to attempt to snare further victims – had been visited by Davidson at the Isle of Wight prison where he was then housed by the former supermarket shelf-stacker Davidson in 2019.

     

    Afterwards, in June 2021, Davidson shockingly and rather casually shared of his child abusing ‘chum’:

     

    “I spoke to Paul [Gadd, AKA ‘Gary Glitter’] when I visited The Verne [prison] two years. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life.”

     

    Instead of remarking on this very, very clear ‘error of judgment,’ speaking to Dan Wootton on GB News yesterday regarding the BBC’s #GaryGate debacle, Davidson raged:

     

    “My political interest was cast upon me way before at Thames Television when I had The Jim Davidson Show and a man called John Howard Davis, who was a BBC producer, turned up and got rid of me and Benny Hill overnight.”

     

    “And then, about a year later, I got a little cassette, a VHS, dropped on my desk by my manager and it [sic] said: ‘The BBC want you.’”

     

    “I said: ‘What’s that?’ They [sic] said: ‘They want you to do this, it’s some rotten show about snooker, so me and John Virgo went and did that show and I never particularly felt welcome there.”

     

    “I was a smell under peoples’ noses and then one day Bruce Forsyth went sick and I stepped in and did The Generation Game. I replaced him just for a day and I wasn’t particularly good, but it made Bruce get better very quick.”

     

    “When he went to do his new deal, they said: ‘No, we’ve got Jim Davidson’ and I did The Generation Game for seven years. I did The Big Break for twelve seasons and seven seasons of The Generation Game.”

     

    “Now look at the BBC. I’m totally erased; I am the statue that’s thrown into Bristol Docks… They gave me a million quid to go away. I had a contract with a million quid’s worth of wages and they said: ‘We’ll give you a million quid if you go away; please don’t tell anyone,” but I told you ‘Danny Boy’ [Dan Wootton].”

     

    “I was worse [than anything else] because I was a working-class Tory. I was a traitor and I like to mess about and have a laugh and be rude and stuff on the rehearsals and it was all pretty much frowned upon.”

     

    “They’re more concerned in being woke and ticking boxes. You know, ticking boxes; the man said to me: ‘We have to have 8.9% ethnic minorities on every show’ and so if you couldn’t get anybody that wanted to come on Big Break who was of non-white persuasion, you had to go out and kidnap some poor bugger and throw him in.”

     

    “You know, err, it was daft and do you know what I learnt there, and I’ve been in the business forty-seven years… I’m nearly one-hundred… So, you learn a thing or two about the BBC and it’s full of people that don’t know how to make programmes. I had to tick a box and I had to be silly.”

     

    “Now, I wouldn’t have thrown Lineker off like that and having a boss called Tim. Now come on, how scary is a Tim?”

     

    “Now, anyway, you wouldn’t throw someone off; just turn them off. I can understand that it’s taxpayers’ money and I hate the BBC with a passion. It’s a toss-up between them and the NHS who I hate the most, but I, you know, I wouldn’t have got rid of him because now Tim’s shown himself as lily livered.”

     

    “[Lineker] can now say what he wants, can’t he? He’s won and he’s going to be even smugger. Smug, smugger.”

     

    “It’s upto Tim and all those silly people [what the BBC does next] and now they want to get rid of the chairman ‘cos he arranged some loan or helped Boris [Johnson]. Now, everyone’s just picking on one another. I think the BBC have lost the public; they’ve lost the dressing room.”

     

    “You know, who do we watch now? GB News, anything but BBC. What does the BBC stand for? ‘Bring Back Corbyn,’ ‘Bring Back Communism.’”

     

    “You know, it is a joke and we have to pay for it whether we like it or not. You know, let’s scrap it and watch GB News all day long.

     

    Responding, this morning on Twitter, I asked:

     

    “As Jim Davidson trends, should he apologise for his June 2021 remark: “I spoke to Paul Gadd [Gary Glitter] when I visited The Verne [prison] two years ago. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life” given the paedo has been recalled to prison after being caught on Dark Web?”

     

    Other Twitter users took up the mantle and amongst comments were:

     

    “I wonder if Jim Davidson still believes that Gary Glitter is remorseful and ready to start a new life?”

     

    “Remember when Jim Davidson was funny? Me neither.”

     

    “Fun Fact: For years the BBC didn’t give a flying sh*t about their right-wing so-called ‘comedian’ Jim Davidson’s racist/misogynistic stage show when he was hosting their flagship Saturday night show ‘The Generation Game’ #IStandWithGaryLineker.”

     

    All that Glitters is not gold; all that is Jim Davidson is utterly toxic and now it is time for the latter to apologise for getting it well and truly wrong about one of the most evil men ever to set foot on this planet.

     

    Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGGBmDZbfgE
    TRAILER – Matthew Steeples will be ‘live’ with Shaun Attwood to discuss his views on Gary Glitter being returned to the clink after breaching his licence terms whilst in a bail hostel on Wednesday 15th March at 6pm GMT. Please do tune in and please do ask away.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQ6N-_gPRQ&t=0s
    FULL EPISODE – This will be ‘live’ for the first time at 6pm GMT on Wednesday 15th March 2023. View here.
    This morning on Twitter, Matthew Steeples asked: “As Jim Davidson trends, should he apologise for his June 2021 remark: “I spoke to [Gary Glitter] when I visited The Verne [prison] 2 years ago. He’s remorseful and he looked ready to start a new life” given the paedo has been recalled to prison after being caught on Dark Web?” He gave the options: A) “Yes, disgraceful remark”; B) “No, second chances matter”; C) “Cancel Davidson and Glitter” and D) “Couldn’t care less.” By 11:30am on Wednesday 15th March 2023, the majority of respondents favoured the idea of the cancellation of this noxious pair of grifters.
    Dan Wootton Jim Davidson
    GB News is about the only channel that will now accept the weird warblings of these two utter berks.
    Gary Glitter Jim Davidson
    A pair of toerags forever linked by a hashtag.
    Nonce Defender
    Twitter users have rightly mocked the ‘entertainer’ over his decision to visit a disgraced ‘singer’ who abused children as young as 10 years old in prison. What on earth was it about the paedophile-nonce-monster Gary Glitter that attracted Jim Davidson to visit him in prison? An answer is required. The public should be told.
    Jim Davidson Jimmy Savile
    Those that think Gary Lineker was WRONG to tweet about politics whilst working for the BBC should be reminded that both Jim Davidson and the late paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile openly campaigned for the Conservative Party and that both men also worked for the BBC. It is pure hypocrisy to call out Mr Lineker on this basis.
    It is very clear that Dan Wootton has no nous when it comes to questioning Jim Davidson. Mr Wootton is clearly not a journalist prone to drilling into real stories; he just PR peddles for his chums.

    Deserved “Public Hate Figure” Jim Davidson OBE’s Worst Moments…

    On Great Yarmouth:

    “Full of fat children of all colours.”

     

    On London and the UK:

    “I am never coming to London again… I may as well go to Dubai and be an ethnic minority there than wait five years till I become one here.”

     

    On former UKIP leader Nigel Farage:

    “The Jim Davidson of the political world.”

     

    On beating up one of his four ex-wives:

    “We’re like a couple of boxers. On the first occasion, I poked her in the eye by accident. I actually went for the mouth… The second time I gave her a shiner. I threw a bunch of keys which whacked her in the eye. Just for a giggle she kept blackening it up to make it look worse.”

     

    “I took the wife out last night; one punch!”

     

    On supposedly giving up on making jokes about black people:

    “I can’t do impressions of Frank Bruno or Ian Wright? That’s racist, is it? But I can do Sven-Göran Eriksson?”

     

    “I’m not going to get on my knee, and I’m not going to go ever black person I see, ‘hail you.’ I’m not going to apologise for the past; the past was the past.”

     

    On Black Lives Matter protestors:

    “Pondlife… F**king stupid.”

     

    Of his thoughts about his chum Boris Johnson:

    “Don’t listen with mother.”

     

    On Piers Morgan (after he was paid to appear on his Life Stories programme):

    “You don’t deserve to listen to anyone’s life story because you don’t f**king listen.”

     

    On the BBC and the NHS:

    “I was a smell under peoples’ noses… I’m totally erased; I am the statue that’s thrown into Bristol Docks… They gave me a million quid to go away.”

     

    “I hate the BBC with a passion. It’s a toss-up between them and the NHS who I hate the most.”

     

    Proving himself the ultimate ‘Brain of Britain’:

    “People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die.”

     

    After being declared bankrupt:

    “My problem is money.”

     

    On himself:

    “I could cure Aids and give £1 billion to womens’ groups and people would still think I was a racist, sexist twat”.

     

    “I’m a homophobic arsehole.”