A CONVICTED murderer is claiming he has won a major victory over Essex Police after the force was found guilty of failing to refer a complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Jeremy Bamber, who is currently in a maximum-security prison in Wakefield, was convicted in 1986 for killing five members of his family at a home near Tolleshunt D’Arcy.

Bamber, 62, has always maintained his innocence and has spent years taking legal action with his lawyers presenting new evidence in an attempt to overturn his conviction.

Now the IOPC has now ruled a complaint which Bamber raised against Essex Police in 2020 was handled incorrectly.

Echo:

Bamber, who has now been in jail for 38 years, filed a formal complaint in writing to Essex Police raising a number of allegations about police conduct three years ago including accusations Det Chief Inspector Michael Ainsley and Det Insp Ron Cook manipulated evidence.

However, the IOPC has said Essex Police failed to fulfil its legal requirement which involved passing the complaint to the independent body.

Bamber’s murder conviction is already being considered by the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC), and the 62-year-old is now hoping Essex Police’s failure to uphold its statutory requirement will assist the CCRC in taking his conviction to the Court of Appeal.

Speaking exclusively to sister paper the Gazette from HMS Wakefield, Bamber said he is hoping for the Court of Appeal to receive his case in the coming weeks.

He said: “I think the report is strong enough to assist the Criminal Case Review Commission 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.

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“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 end game – I genuinely believe that.”

The IOPC said while it upheld Bamber's complaint, no further action would be taken.

Essex Police declined to comment on the matter.