JackieD/Lookout if you knew anything about the case, which you clearly don't, you would understand that Colin actually assisted Bamber at his 2002 appeal which was down to his honesty -
Ground 6 – letter from Colin Caffell 367. Much attention was devoted at trial to consideration of the state of Sheila Caffell's mind. It was common ground that she was a schizophrenic, and indeed she had been in St. Andrew's Hospital Northampton between 3 and 29 March 1985 when she had become acutely ill. Dr Ferguson, the consultant psychiatrist who was in charge of her case gave evidence for the defence, and his view was that she had responded fairly quickly to medication so that by the time she left hospital her illness was reduced to a manageable state. He did not think she was a significant suicide risk, and the suggestion that she had killed her family, particularly her father and her own children did not fit in with his concept of her.
368. The defence called another consultant psychiatrist, Dr Bradley, who had never treated nor indeed even met Sheila Caffell, and who gave the court the benefit of his opinion from the medical notes. His evidence amounted to no more than that he had experience of cases where mentally disturbed persons who believed that it would be for the good of the victims had killed children and others.
369. In addition, there was a body of evidence from non-expert witnesses who had spoken to or been in contact with Sheila Caffell in the days immediately preceding these killings. The trial judge devoted some eight pages of his summing up to all this evidence, and summarised its effect in the following way:
"Most of them saw signs of Sheila's illness which agreed entirely with Dr Ferguson's evidence about it. None of them, at any stage, knew of any physical violence by Sheila, although on occasions when she was acutely ill - as when Freddie saw her just before she went into hospital in March - they were frightened that she might become violent. All of them agree that she was loving - very loving - and caring for her twin sons. There was evidence that she sometimes had a difficult relationship with her mother. Everyone seems to agree that she was very attached to her father, and that he was the person who had a remarkably calming effect upon her. Dr Ferguson said that in his view she treated him as her mentor - a source of help and someone who could calm her when she was in trouble. There is no evidence from anyone of her ever expressing any violence towards her parents."
370. However, the appellant gave evidence of what is now described as an argument or quarrel between Sheila Caffell and her parents on the evening preceding the killings when he was present. The evidence that he gave was summarised by the trial judge in the following terms:
"The defendant in his evidence told you that on the evening of the 6th August, when he went into the farmhouse from time to time, his mum and dad, and Sheila, were having a meal and there was a discussion going on about what could be done to help Sheila's problems. He said that during that discussion mention was made of fostering to help with the children, not in the sense, apparently, of the children being taken away from Sheila, but in the sense of some local family being found who would help with the children - a local family near to the farm. He was asked how Sheila had reacted to that suggestion and he said "Well, she replied that she would rather stay in London, but generally did not appear to pay much attention". It does not appear from any evidence that Sheila was excited or disturbed by any such suggestion, or that she was in a highly disturbed state, or showing signs of that at the farm that evening."
371. The complaint under this ground of appeal is that there was in existence material that might have been relevant to Sheila's attitude towards her children in the form of a letter to Nevill Bamber drafted by Sheila's former husband, Colin Caffell (but never sent), shortly after her release from hospital on the 29 March. That letter expressed his concern about the effect that Sheila's mental condition was having on her ability to look after the two boys properly, to pay attention to their needs and requirements, to get them off to school in time and generally take care of them. He was also concerned about the influence that Mrs Bamber had upon the two boys. In fact, it appears from the evidence that he gave at trial that he himself was caring for the two children for about 95% of the time. He was seeking Nevill Bamber's support in convincing Sheila that the boys should continue to stay with him most of the time, and that he should have full control over their well-being. It is to be noted that he and Sheila had joint custody of the children.
372. This letter was referred to in a disclosed statement made by Mr Caffell on 11 September 1985. He actually produced the letter to the police officer who took the statement, and it was given an exhibit number (ARD/1) although technically it could never have been an exhibit. In such circumstances, the suggestion that this letter was never disclosed to the defence is, we have to say, manifestly unsustainable. So also is the assertion, implicit in the appellant's skeleton argument on this ground that the police at least in breach of their duty to ensure that all relevant material was disclosed failed, deliberately or inadvertently, to ensure that this material was drawn to the attention of the defence team. The reference to the document in the disclosed statement alerted the defence to its existence and it was for the defence to satisfy themselves as to whether or not it was relevant to the case that they wished to present to the court.
373. That conclusion is enough to dispose of this particular ground of appeal, but in deference to Mr Turner's submissions on the point we go further and express our view that this draft letter, even though it may have reflected Mr Caffell's views, was of minimal if any relevance to the issues that the jury had to consider. The letter was never sent; and there is no evidence that Mr Caffell's views, or his request was ever conveyed to Nevill Bamber, Sheila Caffell or any other member of the family. Mr Caffell himself was not present on the evening of 6 August when the discussion described by the trial judge took place. The most relevant evidence of Sheila's reaction to the suggestion that the boys should be fostered was that given by the appellant himself and related to a point in time only a matter of hours before the killing took place. It may be noted that for a period in 1982 and 1983 the boys had been cared for by a day foster mother living near Sheila Caffell in Camden, under the auspices of Camden Social Services, and this arrangement appears to have caused no difficulty. The arrangement being discussed on the evening of the 6 August, from the evidence given by the appellant, seems to have been of a similar nature.
374. However, Mr Turner sought permission to call before us further psychiatric evidence, primarily from Dr Ferguson. In the statement tendered to this court in support of this application Dr Ferguson suggests that if he had been aware of the letter from Colin Caffell with the possible scenario that he might take over full time care of the children from Sheila coupled with the possibility that Nevill Bamber might have pleaded Colin Caffell's case, he would have suggested that this could have had a potentially catastrophic effect on Sheila Caffell. This would have been partly because she would have been resistant to the suggestion of having her children removed from her care and partly because it might have transformed her image of her father from a support and mentor into that of a hostile figure.
375. However, it is clear that Dr Ferguson had already dealt with a broadly similar scenario in his evidence in chief. The evidence runs:
"Q. Having regard to your knowledge of Sheila, do you follow, how would you have expected her to have reacted to a suggestion that the children should be removed from her care?
A. I would have expected her, were this to be put to her suddenly, to be a very substantial threat and I would have expected her to react very strongly to what to her would be the loss of her children. I would not have expected her to be passive about that. "
376. He went on to say he had no way of knowing what form a strong reaction would take, whether it would be to become more psychotic, or more helpless or angry. He took the view that it would however be a very strong threat. He was asked by the trial judge what her likely response would have been to the prospect of daytime foster parenting. The Doctor replied that he did not think that she would have interpreted that as losing her children, and indeed she acknowledged considerable help in that regard.
377. It appears to us that when Dr Ferguson provided his most recent statement in support of this application he overlooked the fact that the letter written by Colin Caffell was never sent and there is no evidence that it ever came to Nevill Bamber's knowledge. He also does not appear to be aware of the very considerable extent to which Colin Caffell was, at the material time, already responsible for the day to day care of the two boys. In the circumstances it does not seem to us that Dr Ferguson is in any position to add significantly to the evidence that he gave to the jury in October of 1986. No new issue is raised which was not already fully before the jury, and in the circumstances it did not seem to us necessary or expedient in the interests of justice that further evidence on this topic should now be admitted before this court and we declined to hear such evidence. There is thus nothing of any substance in this ground and we reject it.
Ground 7 – the statement of Colin Caffell 378. The appellant complains that the Crown failed to disclose at trial the original hand written statement of Colin Caffell, which demonstrated that the typed version of his statement was incorrect. Further and alternatively, the police failed to disclose the fact that Colin Caffell had complained in respect of the discrepancy, and that they had failed to correct it.
379. In the statement dated 11 September 1985, Colin Caffell dealt with the general background and history of his relationship with his ex-wife and with other members of the Bamber family. In the course of this statement he referred to a discussion that he had had with the appellant on the 3 August 1985, after a party. The relevant passage in the original statement reads:
"After he'd dropped Sheila off he returned and we talked. During the course of which he mentioned that he also had been the subject of pressure to marry from his parents as I had been. He felt that I'd had a rough deal all along in respect of Sheila's illness and the attitude of the Bamber family to me. I've always been treated like an outsider."
380. When that statement was transcribed by a typist, the penultimate sentence of this passage was recorded as "he felt that he'd had a rough deal all along...". Having looked at the original hand-written statement we can readily understand how the typist came to make such a mistake, and indeed Mr Turner accepts that it probably was a genuine error. Furthermore, on reading the typescript, it is plainly obvious that there is some mis-typing in that script, as the passage as typed does not read sensibly or logically.
381. The suggestion that the original hand-written statement was not disclosed is nonsensical. The hand-written statement in accordance with the usual practice would have been lodged with the court, and was available for inspection by all parties. No suggestion to the contrary has been put forward by counsel or solicitors instructed at trial. Furthermore, it also conceded that this particular passage of Mr Caffell's statement was not led from him in evidence, nor was it cross-examined to. In the circumstances this error, insignificant as it is, cannot conceivably have any impact upon the safety of the verdict.
382. However, the appellant's contentions go further. About a year after he made that statement Mr Caffell wrote a private and confidential letter to Detective Superintendent Ainsley drawing his attention to the error. The letter complains that when Mr Caffell commented to DS Jones about this he said words to the effect "Oh, it's only a typing error, don't worry about it. It's correct on the hand-written statement isn't it? That's all that matters, so just sign it. If you change it, we'll have to have it all typed out again." The letter continues:-
"This has been niggling me for some time and I feel it must be important to have been included in the typed statement. When I asked Stan Jones about it again last week he said "leave it, whatever you do don't say anything about it in the witness box, it'll cause allsorts of trouble if you do"."
383. In a statement made recently, Detective Superintendent Ainsley says that he "does not actually recollect the letter". The letter was addressed to Mr Ainsley at Police Headquarters and he believed that it would have been forwarded to Witham where it would have been opened by the Incident Room staff. He says that he is surprised that nobody spoke to him about it. Mr Turner is critical of this response and suggests that it demonstrates further the dishonesty of Mr Ainsley and his willingness to cover up wrong doing in the inquiry. He points to the fact that the letter was not only addressed personally to Mr Ainsley but was also marked "Private and absolutely confidential." He argues that such a letter would inevitably be shown to Mr Ainsley even if not personally opened by him. It should be noted, perhaps, that there is nothing in Mr Ainsley's recent statement to show whether the envelope as well as the letter was drawn to hids attention.
384. On 15 September 1986, following receipt of the letter, DS Jones visited Mr Caffell to discuss his letter and the upshot of the discussion is recorded in Action No. 245 with the words "Mr Caffell realises he had got the facts wrong". The typing error went uncorrected.
385. The appellant contends that this episode is indicative of a mindset in the police officers in charge of the investigation in this case, certainly DS Jones and possibly also Mr Ainsley which made them willing to commit wrongful acts in order to obtain convictions. He suggests that this conduct indicates dishonesty and goes so far as to suggest that DS Jones was effectively counselling Mr Caffell to pervert the course of justice. This seems to us to be a grotesque exaggeration of the situation.
386. The original mistake was, as we have already made clear, no more than the sort of typing mistake that is inevitably to be found in a case where the documentation is on the sort of scale to be found in this case. It reveals something of the careful approach of Mr Caffell that he spotted the error and thought that a correction was required. When it was pointed out to him, DS Jones should have taken steps to see that the error was corrected. To suggest that he did not do so in order to secure a conviction at all cost does not stand up to even a moment's thought. The mistake was unlikely to mislead anyone since it was obvious from the context; the original was with the court's papers for examination; and no assessment of the position could possibly lead to a conclusion that even if not spotted this error would impact upon the outcome of the case.
387. That DS Jones did not take steps to ensure that an alteration was made has to be seen in the circumstances then prevailing. As Mr Temple points out, the officer was undoubtedly heavily engaged in preparations for the imminent trial, and he had many other things to do, which were undoubtedly more critical to ensuring that justice was done at the trial. The topic that was discussed in Mr Caffell's statement was entirely irrelevant to the issues at trial, as the subsequent decision of each side to raise the matter demonstrates.
388. The other aspect of the matter deserving of scrutiny is the conduct of the police once Mr Caffell had written to Mr Ainsley. We again remind ourselves of the observations of the court in Hanratty quoted above that it may well be impossible to discover the precise explanation for situations which give rise to a suspicion of impropriety years after the event. We think that if you make that allowance, it is wholly impossible to conclude from the fact that Mr Ainsley does not recall Mr Caffell's letter many years later that he is participating in some sort of cover up. Even if he did see that letter at that time, as Mr Turner suggests that he must, it does not surprise us that now he does not recall it.
389. Mr Ainsley makes the point in his statement that Mr Caffell was not a man who was easily fobbed off if issues he raised were not dealt with to his satisfaction and the very contents of his letter seem to us to demonstrate the truth of that assertion. It seems quite clear to us that the visit of DS Jones did reassure Mr Caffell that he was not being asked to do anything that was improper or inevitably he would have pursued the matter further. That is a view we would have formed on the available evidence but in any event it is supported by a statement taken from Mr Caffell on 13 August 2002 in which he said:
"I have been asked about the letter that I wrote to Mr Ainsley prior to the trial. Having read it I have a memory that Stan Jones visited me and showed me my original statement which was correct. I don't remember specific times or dates of his visits. I do know that seeing the statement put my mind at rest and as a result I was not concerned in the lead up to giving my evidence. The concerns in my letter were no longer in my mind. Stan Jones was a jovial type but was keen to stress that the police knew what they were doing. I understand that Jeremy Bamber's defence team having read this letter, suspect that there was some sort of skulduggery on the part of the police. I was not under this impression and saw the error in the statement as a clerical mistake."
390. We have little doubt that if, as seems to be the suggestion, DS Jones had invited Mr Caffell to lie either about the contents of his statement, or about the failure to alter the mistake, Mr Caffell was, and is, not the sort of person who would be persuaded that there was no "skulduggery" going on. It is clear from all the documentation relating to Mr Caffell that above all else he wanted to know what had really happened on the night when his sons were killed and that if he observed anything that might have deflected from his learning the truth, he would not have let the matter lie.
391. Accordingly, although we cannot now establish all the facts of what occurred in respect of this letter, we are sure that the only reasonable conclusion is that it reveals no failure on the part of the police to act properly other than the failure of DS Jones to ensure that the typing mistake was corrected, which for the reasons already given can have had no significance at trial. We therefore reject this ground.
