The Ladies Bicycle

The Prosecution’s case was that Jeremy Bamber had left his house in Head Street, Goldhanger and walked to White House Farm after 12pm to carry out the killings. In a fantastic story, unsupported by evidence, he allegedly walked the route across farm land to White House Farm to murder his family. He broke into the house through a window (even though there was no evidence of a forced entry and the doors were locked and bolted from the inside). It is then alleged that after carrying out the killings he used his mother's bicycle to return to his home across farmland in the pitch black of night. The police forensically tested the bicycle and found there to be no blood or forensic evidence linking Jeremy to the crime in any way. The bicycle belonged to Jeremy's mother, but it had been brought to Jeremy’s house for Julie Mugford to use, so that she could cycle from Goldhanger to Toleshunt D'arcy, leaving the bike at the Red Lion Pub. She would then get the Osbourne's bus which runs from Tollesbury to Colchester.

Police officer, DI Wilkinson, gave evidence of timings between the two houses using farmland routes in his statement of the 17th of October 1985. The journeys were not replicated at night time as Jeremy Bamber is alleged to have done, neither were they carried out by a man of the same weight, height and build as Jeremy. The accuracy of the tests is highly debatable and it would be advisable to add a significant amount of time to the calculations the officer made. Remember, neither Jeremy Bamber, or anyone meeting his description, was seen on any of the routes by anyone that night. His car remained at his house in Goldhanger until he drove to White House Farm to meet police.

Extracts from the police officer’s statement:

“With the aid of these maps I measured the distance, using a pedometer, from White House Farm to 9 Head Street, Goldhanger, via the farm track and sea wall. This route measured 6,978 metres and at a brisk walk took 70 minutes to complete. I subsequently cycled this route in 35 minutes.

I then measured the distance, using a pedometer, from 9 Head Street, Goldhanger to Brook House Farm track at its junction with Maldon Road via Church Street and the B1026. This route measured 2895 metres and at a brisk walk took 28 minutes to complete. I subsequently cycled this route in 10 minutes.

I then measured the distance, using a pedometer, from Brook House Farm Track at its junction with Maldon Road to White House Farm via B1026 and B1023. This route measured 3290 metres and at a brisk walk took 30 minutes to complete. I subsequently cycled this route in 12 minutes.

I then measured the distance, with a pedometer, from White House Farm to Maldon Road via Brook House Farm track. This route measured 1629 metres and at a brisk walk took 17 minutes to complete. This track is well maintained, clearly defined, and easily negotiable by foot, cycle or motor vehicle. I subsequently cycled this route in 6 minutes.

There are footpaths marked on the Ordnance Survey map which seem to link White House Farm and Goldhanger in a direct manner via Joyces Farm and Lauriston Farm. However I have attempted to negotiate these footpaths but without success. The paths go directly across ploughed fields or

cultivated crops or peter out on the banks of small streams and irrigation canals.

In my opinion the shortest practicable route between White House Farm and Goldhanger without using main roads is via the sea wall. However, the shortest and quickest practicable route between White House Farm and Goldhanger by foot, cycle or motor vehicle is by using Brook House Farm track and the B1026. This route is 1661 metres less than going through Tolleshunt D'Arcy.”

The routes detailed here mostly involve going on a road, and yet no one saw anything. The footpaths away from the road were not negotiable. The sea wall is a narrow route with a drop into water on one side. Is it realistic to believe that Jeremy Bamber mounted a ladies bicycle and cycled across routes that were partly overgrown and he did all this in the pitch black in a matter of minutes?

Jeremy Bamber detailed television programmes that he watched before he went to sleep and these were accurate. Police checked his video tapes to see if he had recorded them and watched them later but there were no such recordings made by Jeremy Bamber and that’s because he watched the T.V programmes just as he said and went to sleep where he stayed until his father called him. The story of a bicycle journey across farmland is a ridiculous and exaggerated story invented by the Prosecution, fed to them by the suggestions of Robert Boutflour and Ann Eaton who benefited from Jeremy’s conviction. Even evidence ,which alleged that someone other than Sheila had carried out the killings, was found by his relatives. To find out more about the relatives read Jeremy’s interview with The Times here.