The 3am telephone call. What was said ?

[Adam]

Jeremy:

'There is something wrong at the farm, I haven't slept all night. Everything is going well. Love you lots'.

Julie:

'Go back to bed'.


From memory this is what Julie has testified Bamber said to her and what she said to him.

It all sounds credible. Bamber had rang her so would be the one doing the talking. He obviously wanted to tell her something. Julie was asleep and woken so is likely to not want to speak and want to go back to bed. 

The police asked Bamber what he said to Julie in this phone call. He said 'no comment'.

At trial he also refused to say in detail exactly what he said. Just saying he rang Julie to 'hear a friendly voice'.

Since conviction I do not recall Bamber ever bringing up this telephone call. It is not on the OS.

The 2002 appeal found it unacceptable that Bamber phoned Julie. Whether before or after phoning the forth furthest away police station.

It's really a damaging thing Jeremy can't dispute or put a gloss on. Ringing Julie for advice or to hear a friendly voice just won't wash.

Do other people agree that what Julie testified was said, is correct ?

[guest154]

No reason not to believe Julie. His reason for phoning her doesn't ring true, her version does.

[Adam]

It doesn't seem logical to ring someone to 'hear a friendly voice' in his situation.

It wastes a lot of time and does not help Bamber in any way.

To ring Julie would not be a natural reaction. I bet if you took 100 other people who have received a distressed phone call from a relative, none of them would ring a girlfriend to 'hear a friendly voice'. Especially at 3am.

[guest154]

It doesn't seem logical to ring someone to 'hear a friendly voice' in his situation.

It wastes a lot of time and does not help Bamber in any way.

To ring Julie would not be a natural reaction.

Especially because he says he Dad sounded really scared.

[Jane]

Especially because he says he Dad sounded really scared.

Especially so. I wonder if he thumbed through the phone book page by page? Re the phone call to Julie. My feeling is, having read it, that something is missing. The words don't seem to flow correctly. I'm inclined to think Julie may have been expecting the call. Not necessarily that night but at some point during Sheila's visit. Jeremy, I believe, whilst admitting the call, denies the conversation happened.

[guest154]

Especially so. I wonder if he thumbed through the phone book page by page? Re the phone call to Julie. My feeling is, having read it, that something is missing. The words don't seem to flow correctly. I'm inclined to think Julie may have been expecting the call. Not necessarily that night but at some point during Sheila's visit. Jeremy, I believe, whilst admitting the call, denies the conversation happened.

Yeah, Jeremy has his own version of what was said during the phone call, he has no choice but to admit that it happened - although he has changed the order of when the call happened that night - but it still makes no sense that he would call Julie to hear a friendly voice - when he says he Dad sounded frightened and really scared.

[Jane]

Yeah, Jeremy has his own version of what was said during the phone call, he has no choice but to admit that it happened - although he has changed the order of when the call happened that night - but it still makes no sense that he would call Julie to hear a friendly voice - when he says he Dad sounded frightened and really scared.

Mat, I suspect that by saying that although he'd told her his plan, saying she didn't think he'd do it/didn't believe him, got her off the hook and she left out those parts of the conversation which would have dropped her in it. That Jeremy denied the conversation was a bonus.

[Adam]

Especially so. I wonder if he thumbed through the phone book page by page? Re the phone call to Julie. My feeling is, having read it, that something is missing. The words don't seem to flow correctly. I'm inclined to think Julie may have been expecting the call. Not necessarily that night but at some point during Sheila's visit. Jeremy, I believe, whilst admitting the call, denies the conversation happened.

The trouble is he hasn't put forward an alternative conversation.

[Adam]

Yeah, Jeremy has his own version of what was said during the phone call, he has no choice but to admit that it happened - although he has changed the order of when the call happened that night - but it still makes no sense that he would call Julie to hear a friendly voice - when he says he Dad sounded frightened and really scared.

His own version ?

He just says he phoned to 'hear a friendly voice'.

[Adam]

Mat, I suspect that by saying that although he'd told her his plan, saying she didn't think he'd do it/didn't believe him, got her off the hook and she left out those parts of the conversation which would have dropped her in it. That Jeremy denied the conversation was a bonus.

What parts could she leave out which would have dropped her in it ?

She said she knew about his hatred, resentment, plans, aborted plans and had said 'tonight's the night' five hours earlier.

She was already 'in it' which is another reason she waited a month before approaching the police.

[guest154]

His own version ?

He just says he phoned to 'hear a friendly voice'.

Yeah, his own version as in - disagreeing with what WAS said but not offering an alternative apart from saying the reason he called her, is what I meant.

[lookout]

His own version ?

He just says he phoned to 'hear a friendly voice'.

So what's wrong with that seeing as he didn't know anyone else well enough to phone at that hour of the morning ?

[guest154]

So what's wrong with that seeing as he didn't know anyone else well enough to phone at that hour of the morning ?

He says his Dad phoned him sounds really scared, that his sister had gone crazy with the gun on a night that they had been talking about fostering and he had left a weapon out....

And he phones Julie before the police.

Seems clear what is wrong.

[Adam]

Yeah, his own version as in - disagreeing with what WAS said but not offering an alternative apart from saying the reason he called her, is what I meant.

The trouble for Bamber is that is not enough.

He's only ever discussed what was said once. Which was at trial. Just giving a general answer.

[Jane]

What parts could he leave out which would drop Julie in it ?

She said she knew about his hatred, resentment, plans, aborted plans and had said 'tonight's the night' five hours earlier.

She was already 'in it' which is another reason she waited a month before approaching the police.

It could have been something along the lines of when they'd discussed it at the weekend/whenever which could have been followed by her reminding him of something or asking a question. She had a month to get a conversation together which didn't make it look as if she knew more than she was prepared to say.