The Evening Standard have reported,
Excerpts:
“The issue of a second sound moderator is therefore crucial.
“If there was one then the jury would have unable to correctly evaluate this critical dimension of the case - namely the exact circumstances in which Sheila Caffell died - where the second sound moderator was located and the relevant inferences that could have been drawn from that to rebut this dimension of the prosecution case.”
Mr Stone told a hearing this morning that “it now seems almost certain that there is a second sound moderator”, seeking a ruling that would move Bamber’s bid to overturn his convictions a step further.
At Bamber’s trial in 1986, the prosecution argued that Ms Caffell could not have reached the trigger to kill herself if the silencer was attached to the murder weapon.
Mr Stone argued Bamber’s latest attempt to challenge the convictions through the Criminal Cases Review Commission would be “significantly handicapped” without the CPS evidence he says exists, and denied that this was a “speculative fishing exercise”.
At his trial, jurors heard how Bamber stood to receive a large inheritance after the murders and had placed the gun in the hands of his sister – who suffered from schizophrenia – to make it look like a murder-suicide.
At today’s hearing, Bamber hit out at the original officer in the case, claiming he had provided “sensitive” material in the case to author Carol Ann Lee, who was behind the recent TV drama White House Farm with actor Freddie Fox taking the role of the killer.
He claims the officer has since destroyed case material despite knowing there is an ongoing appeal.
In a written submission, CPS lawyer Annabel Darlow QC said: “The alleged existence of two sound moderators, and the integrity of the exhibits relating to the examination of the sound moderator, have been the subject of exhaustive inquiry and review.”
She said the CPS “does not accept that the documents now sought were not previously disclosed or made available to the claimant”.
Ms Darlow added: “The relevant evidence at trial was the existence of one sound moderator, contaminated with deposits explicable only on the basis that it was attached to the firearm used for the murders.
“Even if, contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, the existence of a second sound moderator was established, it would not displace those scientific findings.”
She added that the CCRC had previously “looked extremely extensively at the issue of whether or not there was a second sound moderator” and said Bamber was “tribunal shopping to avoid going back to the CCRC”.
The judge is expected to rule on the application next week.
