20/04/07 - Rettendon duo appeal
Echo

A FRESH battle to free two men convicted of the notorious Rettendon Range Rover murders is being launched in Europe. Chris Bowen, a solicitor who has spent the last 11 years fighting to overturn the convictions of Michael Steele and Jack Whomes, claims he has uncovered damning new evidence which proves the pair's innocence.

Mr Bowen, Steele's solicitor based at Harwich firm Linn and Associates, has lodged a petition on behalf of his client at the European Court of Human Rights, claiming both Steele and Whomes were denied a fair trial. The pair were jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering three Basildon drug dealers - Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe - who were found blasted to death in a Range Rover in Workhouse Lane, Rettendon in December 1995.

Mr Bowen said the new evidence, which he is hoping will force another appeal, casts doubt on the credibility of supergrass Darren Nicholls. The new appeal bid coincides with Nicholls' 42nd birthday.

Mr Bowen said: "I'm entirely confident that I already have in my possession enough to persuade the Court of Appeal to justify the release of Michael Steele. "That material will also, in my view, provide freedom for Jack Whomes and will also provide the overturning of Peter Cory's convictions."

Mr Bowen said while the petition is processed by the European Court, he and Steele would try to persuade the Criminal Cases Review Commission to refer the case once more to the Court of Appeal. Whomes, 45, from Suffolk and Steele, 63, of Great Bentley, were jailed for life in 1998 for the murders after a trial at the Old Bailey.

Along with Peter Cory from Clacton, the pair were also found guilty of conspiracy to import cannabis. The prosecution claimed the pair murdered the three known drug dealers after they fell out over a drugs deal. But there was no forensic evidence against Whomes and Steele, no eyewitnesses and chief prosecution witness Nicholls gave evidence in exchange for drugs charges being dropped.

Jurors at the trial were also not told Nicholls had agreed a lucrative book and TV deal while in witness protection. An appeal to overturn Whomes' and Steele's convictions at the Royal Courts of Justice last February was rejected. Mr Bowen said of the latest bid: "I have devoted 11 years of my life to trying to free these men and I hope now that I will be successful. The time for truth is now."