We know for sure Nicholls was a police informant and the relationship he had with DC Bird was a corrupt one. Although the case against Bird collapsed there was much evidence he was dealing in cannabis. Did it stop there? Was he involved with other drugs/class A and/or other crimes? Were others involved? Higher ranking officers? Crime bosses? And/or did Nicholls and/or others have corrupt relationships with other officers? Tate was very good friends with former police officer Barry Dorman who was also putting in money for drug deals. Someone was about to be exposed or threats were being made to expose and/or the likes of Tate were becoming too much of a liability.
I believe corrupt police officer(s) were responsible for the murders. It's the only scenario that explains everything:
- It appears the murdered trio knew and trusted their assailant(s). Tate and Tucker with phones in hand and Rolfe with his hands on the steering wheel and foot on brake. They were found unarmed. If they were working with corrupt officers they would never think they would turn a gun on them.
- The shootings have all the hallmarks of a marksperson who was well trained and capable of carrying out a successful attack ambush style.
- No forensic evidence left at soc.
- Identified location where sound of gunshot would not be out of place.
- The tel evidence in the following gives it away imo along with the geography:
The telephone evidence
At trial the prosecution adduced detailed evidence of telephone calls to and from land lines and mobile phones which belonged to Nicholls, Steele, Whomes, Tate and his associates. The telephone companies provided details as to the time and duration of calls. In addition, this was one of the first cases in which the position of the makers and recipients of mobile phone calls was identified by the location of the cell sites through which the phones had sent or received the call. There was a great deal of factual and expert evidence on this subject at the trial. We shall have to return to it later as it gave rise to one of the bases upon which the Criminal Cases Review Commission referred the matter to this Court. At the moment it is sufficient to summarise some of what it established. It included telephone contact between Nicholls and Steele on 6 December while Nicholls was still in the Sunbury area in the middle of the day. It also established contact between Steele's mobile phone and that of Whomes at 14.11. Around 14.30 there were calls from a telephone kiosk near a public house close to where Whomes was working. Two of the calls were to the mobile phone of Tucker and one (a missed call) was to the mobile phone of Tate. At 14.32 there was a call to a telephone kiosk in Basildon, close to where Tate lived. About 20 minutes later there was a call from the same telephone kiosk to Nicholls' mobile phone. There was other telephone contact between Nicholls and Steele, and Steele and Whomes in the course of the afternoon. At 17.03 a call was made from a telephone kiosk near The Halfway House public house on the A127 to Tate's mobile phone. Whomes telephoned Steele via the mobile phones at 17.12. At 18.03 and 18.09 calls were recorded between Steele's mobile phone and that of Whomes. At 18.44 there was a call of almost 4 minutes duration from an address in Basildon where Sarah Saunders was and the mobile phone of Tate. The case for the prosecution was that it was the call overheard by Steele as described by Nicholls at a time when Steele and Tate were in or near the Range Rover in the farm track at Rettenden. That call ended at about 18.48. At 18.59 two short calls were made from Whomes' mobile phone to that of Nicholls. The case for the prosecution was that they, or one of them (they lasted one and four seconds respectively) included the 'pick-up' call. Although there was no medical or scientific evidence as to the time of death of the three deceased, the case for the prosecution was that the murders took place between 18.48 and 18.59 and that the telephone evidence supported this. It is a fact that the mobile phones of the deceased men did not make or receive effective calls after that time. Although their bodies were not found until the following day, they had been expected home before 20.00hrs because they had social engagements. Both Tate and Tucker died with their mobile phones in their hands.
The murders were obviously premeditated and I think the plan all along was to implicate Steele/Whomes. Were Steele/Whomes aware of Nicholls relationship with at least one corrupt officer? Was Nicholls feeding info back to Steele/Whomes enabling Steele to avoid detection when landing on the coast in his boat? Those who Nicholls was informing were obviously one step ahead knowing who was up to what, where, where and how etc.
The calls from the phone boxes, highlighted above, lend support to my theory:
- Around 14.30pm 2 calls were made from a telephone box near a pub close to where Whomes was working. Two calls to Tucker's mobile and one to Tate's which was missed. At the time Whomes was working in a place called Clayden off the A14 towards Stowmarket which is miles from other areas associated with the murdered trio. The impression here is that Whomes was in contact with Tate and Tucker via a call box to avoid leaving an audit trail. Afaik Whomes didn't even know Tucker and in any event Steele did all the arranging.
- At 14.32 there was a telephone call to kiosk in Basildon near to where Tate lived. Proabably one police officer phoning another in an attempt to establish Tate's whereabouts.
- About 20 minutes later there was a call from the same phone box to Nicholls - the supergrass/informant in contact with his handler.
- At 17.03 a call was made from a phone box near the Halfway House on the A127 to Tate's mobile.
- Sarah Saunders said during her police interviews when she last spoke with Tate on his mobile just before it was thought he was murdered he said 'I'm with some people' and she said had he been with Steele he would have said 'I'm with Mick' who was known to both of them.
We know for sure all these calls from phone boxes cannot have been made by Steele/Whomes since mobile phone evidence puts them elsewhere. Other criminals who may have had reason to want to murder the trio would not be bothered attempting to implicate others. Someone was phoning members of both gangs via phone boxes:
Tate and Tucker from the Rolfe, Tate and Tucker gang
And
Nicholls from the Nicholls, Steele and Whomes gang
I think the someone was 1 or more corrupt officers who were able to orchestrate the whole thing ie get everyone in situ to murder Rolfe, Tate and Tucker and lay the blame on Steele and Whomes.
I don't think Steele/Whomes were in the frame early on. If they were why did police officers investigate Leah Betts father, Paul Betts. And why didn't the investigation throw up any cctv footage of cars Steele and Whomes were known to have access to including Nicholls?
Corrupt police officers would know which roads/pubs to use/quote to avoid detection ie lack of cctv footage.
To resort to murder I think the corrupt officers were up to their necks in it and I think Tate/Tucker were also working with the same officers Nicholls was working with. Remember Tate and Nicholls were pals who met in Hollesley Bay prison. I believe Tate started using heroin whilst at HB. Were corrupt officers supplying prison guards?
