The Steeple Times

Tag: lawyers

  • Another Bamber Bungle

    Another Bamber Bungle

    Further questions about the conduct of Essex Police raised as it is 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

    On Monday on Twitter, the @Bambertweets account shared a piece of little-known information that raises yet more questions about the safety of the conviction of Jeremy Bamber over the murders at White House Farm during the night of the 6th and 7th August 1985.

     

    In a tweet, the ‘Official Campaign’ for Jeremy Bamber shared an image of his late sister, Sheila Caffell, a diagnosed schizophrenia sufferer, alongside a letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP (whom then represented the convicted serial killer).

     

    That correspondence, dated 20th March 2000, contained a statement that tellingly reads: “It is desirable that this information does not become generally known” and given its contents, we can now see why.

     

    Most shockingly, the letter informs Jeremy Bamber’s legal advisors that June Bamber’s nightdress, Sheila Caffell’s nightdress and Ralph Bamber’s, Daniel Caffell’s and Nicholas Caffell’s pyjamas were all “destroyed in 1986” along with a bible found next to Miss Caffell and various pillows and pillowcases.

     

    Given Essex Police’s mismanagement of this investigation is abundantly clear and that there are discrepancies relating to call logs and timings and issues relating to non-disclosure and contamination of evidence, yet again we join those suggesting that Jeremy Bamber’s conviction deserves to be reinvestigated. We neither claim Mr Bamber is innocent or guilty, but at the very least, this is a matter that should finally be properly examined on the basis that it is clearly unsafe.

     

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    Another Bamber Bungle – Essex Police destroyed Bamber family evidence – Further questions about the conduct of Essex Police raised as it is revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA on 6th to 7th August 1985. Jeremy Bamber, Sheila Caffell, Ralph Bamber, June Bamber, Nicholas Caffell, Daniel Caffell.
    The 20th March 2000 letter from the Criminal Cases Review Commission to Glaisyers Solicitors LLP and Sheila Caffell.
    Another Bamber Bungle – Essex Police destroyed Bamber family evidence – Further questions about the conduct of Essex Police raised as it is revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA on 6th to 7th August 1985. Jeremy Bamber, Sheila Caffell, Ralph Bamber, June Bamber, Nicholas Caffell, Daniel Caffell.
    The scene of the murders – White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA.
    Another Bamber Bungle – Essex Police destroyed Bamber family evidence – Further questions about the conduct of Essex Police raised as it is revealed they destroyed the bible, nightclothes and pillows that were found with the victims at White House Farm, Pages Lane, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8AA on 6th to 7th August 1985. Jeremy Bamber, Sheila Caffell, Ralph Bamber, June Bamber, Nicholas Caffell, Daniel Caffell.
    Ralph and June Bamber.
  • Overheard: 10th August

    Overheard: 10th August

    Clangers overheard by readers in the last week (more…)

  • From Russia with Cash

    From Russia with Cash

    Anyone who watches Channel 4’s ‘From Russia With Cash’ will agree that it is now time for estate agents to be regulated suggests Matthew Steeples (more…)

  • The Countess of Carnarvon (née Fiona Aitken)

    The Countess of Carnarvon (née Fiona Aitken)

    Countess of CarnarvonThe chatelaine of Carnarvon Castle, the Countess of Carnarvon is a lady who doesn’t mince her words. (more…)

  • Huguette Clark (1906 – 2011)

    Huguette Clark (1906 – 2011)

    Huguette ClarkThis heiress daughter of a Montana “robber baron” mining and railroad tycoon was a hence unseen recluse from 1930 until her death in 2011 following a painful divorce from the son of one of her father’s business associates after just two years of marriage. (more…)

  • Leave it out Leveson

    Leave it out Leveson

    The conviction of Stuart Hall and the case of Rolf Harris illustrate the damage that Leveson has done to the free press

     

    The British press, until the onset of the phone hacking scandal, was generally celebrated for being free, inquisitive and in the main decent. Yes, indeed, there were bad apples but it truly did its job well and in a perfectly accountable manner. Since Leveson, however, free reporting has been thrown out of the window and individuals facing exposure are using him as a protective smokescreen.

      (more…)

  • Keep Calm and Get Certified

    Keep Calm and Get Certified

    Is it time for “Keep Calm And…” to “Sod Off And Get Lost”?

     

    Since 2001, whatever the situation and whatever the context, three words, “Keep Calm And…”, can and often have been applied. The rediscovery of what was originally a British wartime propaganda poster in a secondhand bookshop in Alnwick, Northumberland set about this trend and it has continued unabated.

     Keep Calm & Carry On 300
     

    The bookshop’s owners, Stuart and Mary Manley, seized upon their customer’s enthusiasm for “Keep Calm And…” and they, then others, printed it onto clothing, doormats, postcards, mugs and other merchandise. Millions of items featuring the distinctive font and “Tudor” crown have been sold worldwide and a trademark dispute about it commenced in 2011 and continues to this day.

     

    On the Barter Books website is a link to a video giving the story of how such a simple phrase has become so popular. On it the narrator states:

     

    “It’s perhaps the words on the poster that people find most enchanting. Like a voice out of history, it offers a very simple warmhearted message to inspire confidence in others in difficult times and it is something that should never fade from fashion”.

     
    Keep Calm Or Drink Wine 300Keep Calm & Act Like Kate Middleton 300Keep Calm And Go Watch The Hunger Games 300

     

    Adaptations naturally followed and amongst the many thousands created, some of the more tolerable ones include:

     
    –       Keep Calm Or Drink Wine

    –       Keep Calm You’re Not On The Titanic

    –       Keep Calm And Smoke Weed

    –       Keep Korma And Curry On

    –       Keep Calm And Get Over Yourself

    –       Keep Calm And Chillax (for David Cameron)

    –       Keep Calm And Kill Justin Bieber

    –       Keep Calm And Get Certified

    –       Keep Calm And F**k Off

    –       Now Panic And Freak Out

    –       Change Words And Be Hilarious

     

    Increasingly, though, the overuse of “Keep Calm And…” has resulted in even Stuart Manley stating: “You almost get sick of it… Very few are genuinely funny”. There are hundreds of them and some are more bizarre than others. A selection numbers:

     

    –       Keep Calm And Have A Cupcake

    –       Keep Calm And Farm On

    –       Keep Quiet And Continue Working

    –       Keep Calm And Rule Britannia

    –       Keep Calm And Pass Me The Ball

    –       Keep Calm And Watch Skins

    –       Keep Calm And Go Watch The Hunger Games

    –       Keep Calm And Fake A British Accent

    –       Keep Calm And Hack On

    –       Keep Calm And Go Gangnam Style

    –       Keep Calm And Act Like Kate Middleton

    –       Calm You Shall Keep
     
    Keep Calm & Kill Justin Bieber 300Keep Calm & Get Certified 300Keep Calm & Fuck Off 300
     

    Frankly, the majority of us are now bored. The time has come for reasonable souls to adopt the tone of Victor Meldrew. On sight of another piece of “Keep Calm And…” merchandise, the cry should ring out: “Sod Off And Get Lost”.

     

    Barter Books: http://www.barterbooks.co.uk

     

    Watch the Story of Keep Calm And Carry On at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrHkKXFRbCI&feature=player_embedded

     

    If you must, purchase “Keep Calm” merchandise at: http://www.keepcalmhome.com, http://www.keepcalmstudio.com and http://www.keepcalmandcarryon.com

  • Taxes are only for the little people

    Taxes are only for the little people

    HMRC publish a list of tax evaders but neglect to mention any large corporations

     

    The hotelier and real estate heiress Leona Helmsley stated: “Taxes are only for the little people” before being convicted of income tax evasion in 1989.

     

    Leona Helmsley (1920 - 2007)
    Leona Helmsley (1920 – 2007)

    HMRC's list of deliberate tax defaulters published on 21st February 2013
    HMRC’s list of deliberate tax defaulters published on 21st February 2013

     

    Yesterday, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs published a list of names and addresses of nine individuals and companies who they describe as tax defaulters. Amongst the names on the list are a grocer, a hairdresser and a coach operator and the amounts owed range from £29,111 to £447,904.

     

    In response, Richard Murphy of Tax Research called the list of names: “Plain, straightforward hypocrisy”. He went on to state:

     

    “The people named are easy targets. There are clearly different categories of tax crime, with small businesses who put cash in HMRC’s pockets named and shamed; but banks, wealthy lawyers and global corporations offered anonymity. It seems that only little people pay tax and only little people are named and shamed”.

     

    Mr Murphy is quite right. Whilst these people may owe the taxman money, their activities are not in the league of the tax avoidance strategies of Starbucks, Google and Amazon.

     

    If HMRC don’t want to be placed in the same category as Leona Helmsley, they’d do well to change their ways. Instead they’d do better to focus on the true “aggressors” that David Cameron highlighted this week but sadly, that would probably just be too logical a strategy for this monolithic organisation to follow.

     

    View the HMRC list of 9 defaulters at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/defaulters/defaulters-list.pdf

     

    For a profile of Leona Helmsley, go to: http://thesteepletimes.com/tycoons/leona-helmsley-1920-2007/?position=14

  • Shia LaBeouf

    Shia LaBeouf

    This Californian became a child star to help solve the financial woes of his family. He excelled in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and received a $15 million cheque for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Aside from acting, he’s been in relationships with Carey Mulligan, Isabel Lucas and Megan Fox but it is bar brawls that seem to form a staple of his existence. LaBeouf was questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department after one at the Mad Bull’s Tavern in February 2011, thrown out of another called the Cinema Public House in Vancouver in October 2011 and lost his hat during another at the Hobgoblin in London, SE14 in November 2012. We somehow doubt this wild child will be transforming into a reformed citizen any time soon but we’re also betting his career will rocket.

  • Patricia Kluge (née Rose)

    Patricia Kluge (née Rose)

    The rise and fall of the “wealthiest divorcee in history” has been extraordinary. A former nude model for her first husband’s Knave magazine and star of adult films such as “The Nine Acres of Nakedness,” Patricia Kluge is the daughter of an Englishman and a Scots-Iraqi. She married her second husband, the late John Kluge, chairman of Metromedia and once the richest man in America, in 1981 after belly dancing for him at a dinner party in New York. As part of her plan to dovetail herself into the top drawer of American society, the couple built a 24,000 square foot mock 18th century English-style mansion, Albermarle, in Virginia and stuffed it full of Chippendale furniture. She got this as part of her $100 million divorce settlement in 1990 and wisely invested part of the payoff in a highly successful business trading football cards but then vanity struck. The Kluge Estate Winery project that she started with her third husband, William Moses, bankrupted the pair in June 2011 and the Bank of America foreclosed on her properties. A lifeline came from “longtime friend” Donald Trump who purchased the vineyard and employed her, but even he’s now uttered the words: “You’re fired!” and sent her packing. Of her newfound predicament Kluge commented: “What did we lose? Material things, nothing too important. When something like this happens you really see who your friends are, those you can rely on, and we have many friends.” Here is a lady with fortitude that can only be described as admirable. It’s probably best, however, to keep her away from the cash register.