Essex Police refuse convicted killer's FOI request

Essex Police refuse convicted killer's FOI request

Convicted killer Jeremy Bamber has been refused access to evidence which he hopes will clear his name. Essex Police told him that his requests were either beyond the remit of the information compliance officer at Essex Police or could not be completed within the 18-hour limit of searches.

The 44-year old Bamber was jailed for life in 1986 for murdering his adoptive parents, sister and her two children at White House Farm in Tolleshunt D'arcy near Maldon. He had asked Essex Police for details of notes made by an officer at the scene of the crime, a register of the firearms issued on the morning of the killings and audio tapes of radio and telephone calls from August 7, 1985.

He is hoping to obtain another hearing at the Court of Appeal. In 2002, the Court of Appeal rejected suggestions that the murder convictions had been based on the deceit of police and evidence that had been withheld.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police stated that several Freedom of Information and Data Protection requests from Mr Bamber had been received, a large number of which have been complied with. The spokeswoman said "This one particular request could not be dealt with in a reasonable amount of time, so in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act we rejected the request on that basis. We feel we have complied with the act and our statutory obligation. Mr Bamber can appeal via the information commissioner, however, we have not received notice of such an application.”

Killer denied access to case information (East Anglian Daily Times, 16 July 2005)