Appeal court to review Bamber case

Bamber, centre, was jailed in 1986

A date has been set for the Court of Appeal to review the conviction of multiple murderer Jeremy Bamber.

Bamber was jailed for life in 1986 for murdering his mother, father, sister and twin nephews at the family farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex.

The case was referred back to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, and is due to start on 14 October.

The hearing, which is expected to last six weeks, will look at new DNA evidence.

New investigations

Last July, a team of police officers was given four months to complete fresh inquiries into the killings.

A hearing in London directed that evidence from the new investigations - as well as material from inquiries by Essex Police in 1986 and City of London Police in 1991 into the handling of the murder investigation - would be disclosed to Bamber's defence lawyers.

Bamber, who was convicted in October 1986 at Chelmsford Crown Court of five counts of murder, has always protested his innocence.

The farmhouse where the murders took place

Bamber's mother June, and six-year-old nephews Nicholas and Daniel were shot dead in their beds at White House Farm in August 1985.

His father, Neville, was found slumped downstairs, while his sister Sheila Caffell - a model nicknamed 'Bambi' - was found by her parents' bed.

Bamber's fingerprints were found on a gun that was used in the murder and his former girlfriend, Julie Mugford, told police how he plotted to murder his parents to get his £500,000 inheritance.

An earlier application to appeal against the conviction was refused in 1989.