Blood & 2002 Appeal

The DNA Evidence That Never Was

Most would agree that the only irrefutable proof you could present in the case of convicting someone of murder is that of DNA evidence. Jeremy Bamber has been imprisoned since 1985 yet no DNA or forensic evidence links him to his supposed crimes. The closest the prosecution came was a small flake of blood, found inside a sound moderator that they alleged belonged to Jeremy’s sister – ruling her out as the killer. The jury couldn’t make a unanimous verdict and asked to hear the evidence of blood in the moderator again then they convicted Jeremy by a 10 to 2 majority. This page devastatingly undermines the prosecution’s case by detailing how forensics from three different sound moderators were patched together by police and presented to the jury as findings from one exhibit.

The 2002 Appeal and the mystery of blood in the sound moderator

by J, Bamber and J. Martin-Adams: last updated 25.01.13

Part of the prosecution case against Jeremy Bamber at his trial in 1986 involved the claim that a blood flake discovered inside a sound moderator must have originated from Sheila Caffell. Supposedly, the existence of this blood meant that the sound moderator must have been attached to the rifle when the murders were carried out. However, because the moderator was later discovered in the gun cupboard, Sheila could not have committed suicide with it still attached. It is, of course, as the judge put it, ‘inconceivable’ that she could have shot herself and then unscrewed the moderator and put it away.

However, the argument concerning Sheila’s blood was undermined seriously by tests carried out prior to the 2002 appeal,

which involved DNA testing which was not available in 1985. These tests cast doubt on the claim that Sheila’s blood had ever been present inside the moderator, prompting the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) to make a referral to the Court of Appeal during their 2001 investigation. Background – the significance of the AK enzymeHuman blood is made up of a number of different constituents including red and white blood cells, plasma, and a number of different enzymes. In forensic science, some of these enzymes are used to make the distinction between blood samples from one person and blood samples from another. One example is the AK enzyme, which would become important in the case of Jeremy Bamber.

Human beings have two types of AK enzyme, namely, AK1 and AK2-1[1]. The blood flake discovered inside the sound moderator was analyzed and found to contain the AK1 enzyme, meaning that it could not have originated from June Bamber, whose blood contained AK2-1[2]. The blood of the other deceased family members – Nevill Bamber, Daniel Caffell and Nicholas Caffell – belonged to the AK-1 grouping. David Boutflour and Ann Eaton (the children of Robert and Pamela Boutflour) also shared the AK1 grouping: both handled Nevill Bamber’s sound moderator (DB/1) before giving it to Essex Police[3]. Sheila Caffell’s enzyme blood grouping was A, PGM 1 +, EAP BA, AK1, HP2-1: an identical match to Robert Boutflour, Jeremy’s uncle though marriage to his mother’s sister, Pamela Speakman. Both Robert and Pamela were primary beneficiaries of the estate upon the conviction of Jeremy Bamber[4].

At the 1986 trial, the Court was told that the discovery of the AK-1 enzyme constituted clear evidence that the blood flake found inside the sound moderator came from Sheila Caffell[5]. What the Court was not told was that the AK-1 enzyme found in human blood is genetically identical to the AK-1 enzyme found in the blood of pigs, cattle, rabbits, chickens and carp[6]. The rifle and the sound moderators were used to shoot game and could have been carried alongside rabbits when returning from a shoot. Had the Court been informed that two types of animal blood were found on the outer surface of the first sound moderator (SBJ/1)[7], perhaps the discovery of the AK-1 enzyme would have been attributed to animal, rather than human, blood. Given that this discovery was not disclosed until after the 2002 Appeal[8], the Court was denied the opportunity to consider the significance of this information during the 1986 trial.

The 2002 Appeal

Police records confirm that a total of three Parker Hale MM1-type sound moderators (SBJ/1; DB/1 and DRB/1) were seized by Essex Police in 1985. In preparation for the 2002 appeal, tests were carried out on one of the three moderators[9] to analyse DNA on the internal baffle plates. It is not known which of three was examined for the appeal[10]. The fact that all three moderators were mixed up and mislabelled by Essex Police caused confusion for many years, but it has now become clear which of the three was kept by the police after the trial, and which were returned to Jeremy’s cousins, Anthony Pargeter and David Boutflour.

The sound moderator retained by Essex Police was DNA tested by forensic experts working for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in 2001, revealing both male and female DNA on the internal baffle plates. The female DNA turned out to be a perfect match for June Bamber[11], even though her blood grouping of AK2-1 was not found inside the moderator in 1986. The results confirmed that the male DNA was not a match for Jeremy Bamber.

The prosecution team tried to establish whether the sound moderator contained DNA matching Jeremy’s relatives, including David Boutflour, Robert Boutflour, Peter Eaton and Anthony Pargeter, all of whom had handled one or more of the sound moderators. With the exception of Anthony Pargeter, there is no evidence to suggest that the other male relatives agreed to provide DNA samples to be checked against the male DNA found inside the moderator[12]. At the 2002 appeal, the prosecution’s forensic experts conceded that the Crown could no longer rely on Sheila’s blood ever having been inside the sound moderator[13]. However, Mark Webster, a forensic scientist called to give evidence by the defence, argued that because the DNA found on the sound moderator could not be attributed to blood, it remains possible that the blood that was originally present on the internal baffle plates had been completely swabbed off during earlier testing, and that the DNA from June Bamber and the unknown male may have been nothing more than accidental cross-contamination[14]. In other words, the absence of Sheila’s DNA did not mean that her blood had never been present inside the sound moderator.