HC Deb 23 March 1989 vol 149 cc804-5W
Mr. Grylls

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, in view of the recent decision by the Court of Appeal to refuse leave to appeal to Jeremy Bamber in respect of his conviction on five counts of murder, he will now make a statement about the conduct of police investigations in this case.

Mr. Hurd

After Mr. Bamber's conviction on 28 October 1986, I asked the then chief constable of Essex, Mr. Robert Bunyard, to submit to me an urgent report on the conduct of the investigation of this case by his force. That report acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the early stages of this investigation and made proposals designed to prevent any recurrence. At my request, Sir Richard Barratt, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, discussed with Mr. Bunyard the issues raised in that report and then, in a separate review, sought to identify lessons from this case which might be applied to the police service generally.

It is clear that errors were made in the early stages of the police investigation contrary to existing force practice.

First, the senior investigating officer having assessed the scene of the crime and considered the information provided by Jeremy Bamber, wrongly concluded that Sheila Caffell had taken her own life after shooting her parents and her twin sons. In consequence of this error of judgment, he did not follow normal procedures of potential murder cases and was reluctant to take account of information which challenged his original assessment.

Secondly, there was inadequate supervision of the senior investigating officer to ensure that the existing force practices were observed and that inquiries took account of the information coming to light.

It is clear that prompt and effective action to remedy these shortcomings was taken once the chief constable and senior officers were made aware of the misgivings which relatives of the Bamber family expressed. Proper procedures were then implemented and they produced the evidence which was then presented to the jury.

I have today placed in the Library a list of the 18 substantive recommendations made by Sir Richard for adoption throughout the police service. They are designed to reinforce standard procedures and ensure proper management supervision to minimise the risk of prejudicing the outcome of a major inquiry.

The recommendations do not call for radical changes in police procedures, rather they clarify and confirm existing good practice so that it is consistently followed.

The recommendations have been forwarded to the Association of Chief Police Officers for their consideration and implementation as necessary.