A.C. - 3.1 Examine information for Validity (15 marks)
Validity means, to which extent or how far the information of sources, is reliable and valid when examining
information, within criminal cases such as Evidence. Which can be in the form of physical like skin, Judgements which
can be court's precedents, Trial transcripts giving information of what has been said in the trial. Media, the way they
tend to take control of the case and exaggerate events, or defaming suspects or victims, and Law reports, giving
accounts of why the judge decided that way of sentencing.
Evidence
Jeremy Bamber
Jeremy Bamber was convicted of murdering his parents, sister, and her twin sons in 1986 and was given a life
sentence. There is much evidence that has been unearthed since the original trial to suggest that the accuracy of the
guilty verdict was not valid and that Bamber was innocent. The circumstances were that there was very little
evidence that pointed to Bamber’s verdict being valid. Firstly, the prosecution tried to fight the idea that Sheila was
the killer after a silencer was found in the gun cupboard that fit the murder weapon that also contained either red
paint or blood. This questions admissibility and reliability for Bamber resulting in problems, as if the gun had the
silencer on, the gun would have been too big for Sheila to kill herself, suggesting there must have been another
shooter. This was supported by the fact that the blood found in the silencer contained the AK1 enzyme that was
found in Sheila’s blood. Therefore, she could not have killed herself and then put the silencer back into the
cupboard. This evidence all points towards a different killer. This theory was pushed further when Bamber’s ex-
girlfriend came forward and told the police that amber said he was going to murder his family by hiring a hitman.
From this the police found a motive for Bamber to commit the crime, which links to bias from the police because if
his whole family were dead, he would be the sole inheritor of all money and the house. The police then put the
theory together that Bamber could have biked to the crime scene and back before making the police phone call to
avoid detection. This evidence points to the theory that the conviction against Bamber is valid and that he is in fact
guilty
On the other hand, there is much evidence that points to Bamber being innocent. Initially, the police believed that
Sheila had committed the murders due to her having schizophrenia and recently being released from a hospital.
Sheila believed that her sons were the spawn of the devil, but her schizophrenia episode was often triggered by the
idea of her sons being taken away from her. The day before the murders, Bamber’s parents told Sheila that they
thought she should give custody to them, so she did not have to worry about looking after them, which caused a
huge argument according to Bamber.
a key part of the trial was a silencer that was found by the family. However, upon later inspection of police records it
was discovered that the family found another silencer a month earlier, meaning that two silencers were found.
Despite one being used in court, the one that would have been too big for Sheila to kill herself with, nobody was
aware which was used or when it was found. It was said to be convenient that the prosecution only used the silencer
that suggests there would have been another killer. There was also the issue of how the family found the silencer as
the police officers had looked in the gun cupboard after the crime and no silencers were found. Upon ballistic testing
it was also found that there would have been no need to use a silencer as the murder weapon was a .22 pistol which
naturally makes much less noise than other guns. This would also be consistent with the idea that Sheila could have
shot herself after moving upstairs without the police hearing the gun go off. In addition to this, there was red paint
or blood found on the silencer that was said to come from a scratch on the mantle. However, in the original scene of
crime photos, the photographer did not notice the scratch on the mantelpiece and there was also no debris on the
floor. This suggests that the scratch was put there after the crime occurred. Therefore, this evidence still points to
the conclusion that Sheila was the killer and Bamber is innocent, demonstrating how his guilty verdict is not valid.
William Mills
William Mills, aka Billy Mills, was wrongly convicted in August 2008 of a May 2007 bank robbery in Glasgow,
Scotland. Billy Mills' conviction of robbing the bank of £8,216 was based on his identification by two witnesses and
two police officers -- even though the robbery wore a mask partially covering his face. The jury rejected Mills' alibi
defence that he was home at the time of the robbery, and expert testimony that the man in the bank surveillance
photos was not Mills. He was sentenced to nine years in prison. Mills appealed and in February 2009 he was released
on bail pending the outcome of his appeal. Witnesses said the robber spoke with a South African accent. After Mills'
conviction biological matter left by the robber on a bank doorstop was tested for the presence of DNA. The DNA
