Jeremy Bamber

Jeremy Bamber
Bamber in 1985
Born
Jeremy Paul Marsham

(1961-01-13) 13 January 1961 (age 63)
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)Murder (5 counts)
Criminal penaltyWhole life order (convicted 28 October 1986)
Details
Date7 August 1985
CountryEngland
Location(s)Tolleshunt D'Arcy
Killed5
WeaponRifle
Date apprehended
29 September 1985

Jeremy Nevill Bamber (born Jeremy Paul Marsham; 13 January 1961) is a British convicted mass murderer. He was convicted of the 1985 White House Farm murders in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, in which the victims included Bamber's adoptive parents, Nevill and June Bamber; his adoptive sister, Sheila Caffell; and his sister's six-year-old twin sons.[1][2] The prosecution had argued that after committing the murders to secure a large inheritance, Bamber had placed the rifle in the hands of his 28-year-old sister, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, to make the scene appear to be a murder–suicide. The jury returned a majority guilty verdict.[3]

Bamber is serving life imprisonment with a whole life tariff, meaning that he has no possibility of parole.[4][5] He has repeatedly applied unsuccessfully to have his conviction overturned or his whole life tariff removed; his extended family remains convinced of his guilt.[4] The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred the case to the Court of Appeal in 2001, which upheld the conviction in 2002. The appeal was rejected and the CCRC rejected further applications from Bamber in 2004 and 2012, with the commission stating in 2012 that it had not identified any new evidence or legal argument capable of raising a real possibility that his conviction would be quashed.[6] On 10 March 2021, a new application was lodged with the CCRC for a referral to the Court of Appeal. As of 2023, he has spent 37 years in prison, making him one of the longest-serving prisoners in the UK.

  1. ^ Carol Ann Lee, The Murders at White House Farm, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2015.
  2. ^ Powell, Claire (1994). Murder at White House Farm. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0747243663.
  3. ^ Lee 2015, 342–344.
  4. ^ a b David James Smith, "And by dawn, they were all dead", The Sunday Times Magazine, 11 July 2010 (webcite).
  5. ^ Martin Evans, "The 70 prisoners serving whole life sentences in the UK", The Daily Telegraph, 25 November 2016.
  6. ^ Eric Allison, "Jeremy Bamber murder appeal bid thrown out, The Guardian, 26 April 2012.