There was / is evidence that a call was made from the scene to Jeremys cottage, and moreover such evidence was touched upon during the trial when phone experts testified to the effect that the phone in the kitchen had been found with its handset off its cradle, and that the operator was able to confirm the phone in question was off the hook. Unfortunately, by the time the operator got involved in the matter (3.56am) it was not possible to establish whether or not the line had timed out, or whether or not the handset had merely been left off its cradle. Some tests were carried out to see how long it would take for the line to clear itself via the exchange mechanism, before the person receiving such a call from the scene could dial a different telephone number. There was some conflict as to how long that period would be, where one of the crowns experts said it might take up to 8 minutes for this to happen, but this was contradicted by technicians who carried out that very same exercise using the exchange through which calls from and to the scene were made at the material time, they finding out that the line would reset itself within a couple of minutes or so...
Jeremy himself has said that once the line went dead, he tried to ring his father back but he kept getting an engaged tone, which led him to believe that his father was talking to someone else on the phone - this is consistent with someone at the scene holding down the plunger on the cradle thus creating the silent "dead" sound reported by jeremy. Once the connection had been cut off by someone at the scene it produced a dialing tone to allow someone at the scene to make another call, which would produce an engaged tone in keeping with what Jeremy has said took place. By 3.56am when the operator got involved the handset had clearly been left off the hook, it not resting upon its cradle, and allowing the operator to listen in to sounds or noises coming from wherever the phone was situated at the scene...
This is consistent with someone using the telephone at the scene when Jeremy tried to call his father back but kept getting the engaged tone...
When the police checked the line at whf, they also got the engaged tone...
How could the line from the scene be engaged to the line at Jeremys cottage, after the time Jeremy used his own phone to ring the police at 3.36am?
When the operator originality checked the phone at the scene she reported that the line was engaged, but when she checked later she reported it was off its hook...