Bamber claims 'have no substance'

Bamber has always proclaimed his innocence

Allegations of impropriety, dishonesty and conspiracy against police involved in the Jeremy Bamber murder case have "no substance whatever" to back them up, the Court of Appeal has heard.

Bamber is appealing against his conviction for killing five members of his adoptive family in August 1985.

Victor Temple QC, for the Crown, told the three judges at the hearing that once the court looked closely at the allegations against the police "the entire edifice crumbles to nothing".

Bamber, now 41, who is serving life for the murders at White House Farm, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, wants the judges to overturn his convictions as "unsafe".

His legal team says the case against him was built on a series of "deceits" by police and that certain evidence was withheld in order to unfairly bolster the prosecution case.

Slack work

But Mr Temple said that Bamber's counsel, Michael Turner QC, "was seeking to swim in an empty sea".

He said Mr Turner was seeking to base "very serious allegations of impropriety, dishonesty and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice" on no more than slack paperwork, double hearsay and strained constructions on documentary evidence.

Mr Temple added: "There is no substance whatever to back these allegations up."

Bamber, who is present in the dock for the hearing, regularly passed notes to his legal team.

He was convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court in October 1986 but has always maintained his innocence.

Nephews shot

Lord Justice Kay, Mr Justice Wright and Mr Justice Henriques - sitting in London - have already heard claims that police could have turned over furniture and a bowl of sugar when they burst into the kitchen after the murders were reported, disturbing the crime scene.

The court heard how his mother June, 61, and six-year-old nephews Nicholas and Daniel were shot dead in their beds.

His father Nevill, 61, was found downstairs, and his sister Sheila Caffell, a model nicknamed Bambi, was found by her parents' bed.

The hearing was adjourned until Friday when Mr Turner and Mr Temple will make their final submissions to the court.