Yvonne Hartley

"Even though I was only 18 at the time, I remember quite clearly the tragedies that occurred at White House Farm from the media coverage the case attracted, although it wasn’t until I watched the television programme “Crimes that shook Britain” about the case that I felt an overwhelming need to write to Jeremy to express my concerns about his wrongful conviction and to offer my support.

It’s quite embarrassing to recall the content of my first letter to Jeremy where I thought I had spotted something previously missed by the Defence, and wrote pages of analysis of how I saw the case from the limited amount of material available on the internet.

Within a few days of posting the letter I received a lengthy reply back from Jeremy who explained some of the facts behind the issues I had raised and he thanked me for the time it had taken me to reach the conclusions I had expressed to him.

This letter is now a source of amusement both to Jeremy and myself and I keep telling him to throw it away to which he laughs, but he never belittles the content of it. Embarrassing as it may be to me now, this letter opened the door to a friendship which I cherish and also to the best job in the world.

Over the course of time our friendship developed. Jeremy has helped me work my way round a computer as I was clueless at first and has given me a confidence in my abilities which I didn’t even realise I had at first.

Jeremy is always willing to answer any questions about the case, which I raise and he does this with openness and honesty. Within a few months, and after much nagging by myself to let me help, Jeremy set me small research tasks which he was unable to do as he has no access to the internet and I felt proud to be able to help in this way, and from this beginning the work I do with Jeremy grew.

Some of the work we have covered has been difficult on an emotional level and has been distressing not just for myself but also for Jeremy. Yet his main concern was how I was dealing with it and constantly enquired if I was okay. That speaks volumes.

You will have read people state how strong, dedicated and determined Jeremy is to prove his innocence. But Jeremy is also a caring, supportive and loving man who misses his family each and every day. He has never had the opportunity to grieve and I know that once he comes home one of his strongest desires, above all others, is to be able to visit the graves and lay his flowers himself.

It angers Jeremy that the character’s of his mum; dad and sister have been assassinated over the years by Essex Police, his relatives, publications and in the media. These people have painted a negative image of the family he loved so much, demonised them and stated that Jeremy hated them. In painting his family in the negative and untruthful way and lying about Jeremy’s relationship with them it gave the Jury reason to believe that this is one of the reasons why Jeremy might have committed the crime. Jeremy did not harm his family in any way and the way they have been depicted over the years troubles Jeremy greatly. It is a driving desire that he put the record straight about the kind, loving, supportive parents June and Nevill were. Jeremy also needs to clear the name of his sister.

Essex Police and some authors and media publications would have you believe that Sheila and Jeremy hated each other. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jeremy and Sheila were always there for each other and confided in each other. Sheila often turned to Jeremy for help and advice and I know he regrets not having a deeper understanding of her illness at that time.

Through case documents and other material I personally have dedicated thousands of hours in understanding Sheila, her character and her illness. At times I have asked Jeremy very personal, probing questions about her and he has always, without any hesitation answered me in a sensitive way with one hundred per cent truthfulness.

Sheila was not the monster as portrayed in TV programmes. She was just a very lonely, troubled girl who found aspects of life extremely difficult to handle. With her illness on top it was a catalyst for disaster but with the lack of understanding of her illness and the stigma surrounding mental illness in the 1980’s there was little anyone could have done. With the support, understanding and medication available things could have been so much different but unfortunately for June, Nevill, Sheila, Nicholas, Daniel and Jeremy we can’t turn back the clock.

The recent Bake-Off was done in a wholly innocent manner in tribute to June, Jeremy’s mum. What better way to give tribute to his loving mum than to share with the world his happy memories of baking in the kitchen with June and Sheila and then sharing these recipes so that we too can remember June in a positive way?

Yet again this has been blown out of all proportion by the media and had been depicted in media headlines as something evil and weird. For Jeremy to have shared his memories with us is something deeply personal to him. All he wanted to do was pay tribute to his mum yet everything Jeremy does is twisted and manipulated out of all proportion.

It has infuriated me lately with the content of recent books about the case. These authors state they have spent many years researching the case and now know “the truth”. It seems to me than rather than read the documentation they have been provided with by both Jeremy and the Campaign they choose to ignore the facts and based their books on the content of social media sites and witnesses who have already been shown to lie.

A prime example is that in one of these publications it states that Jeremy is a psychopath. The author was provided with Jeremy’s psychological reports twice which state quite clearly that Jeremy is NOT a psychopath nor has he any personality disorders and yet the evidence has been ignored and they have relied instead upon hearsay. After all a book which contained the truth perhaps wouldn’t be as sensational and would not gain the sales figures they anticipate. To release these publications a matter of days before the 30^th Anniversary of the tragedies is revealing in itself in the fact that all that is important to these people is their pay packet. It outrages me to think that all through this case people have lined their pockets using lies to bolster the case against Jeremy. Perhaps if they had put the time and effort into researching the case properly and reporting the actual facts it may have surprised them just how high their sales figures would have been.

It annoys me greatly that these people state that Jeremy sits in his cell looking over case documents and extracts “typos” as evidence. These people really do not have a clue.

Jeremy works tirelessly, daily on his case and proving his innocence. I have known him work from bang up for 8/10 hours straight well into the early hours in the morning. I get concerned sometimes that he will burn himself out as the work involved isn’t simply a case of reading a document but detailed cross referencing, compiling charts and documents, more cross referencing, extracting of key evidence, more cross referencing. This work is intense, thorough and completely consuming and in the end the results produce compelling and un-arguable proof of the reasons for and the people behind his wrongful conviction. So if this constitutes looking for typos then these people are fools and are completely misleading the public.

I am absolutely committed to the help I give and the work I do for Jeremy. I have always stated to him that if the years of painstaking work means that he would enjoy just 5 more minutes freedom than he would have enjoyed without me and the things I do then every tear, sleepless night, worry, chewed finger nail and all of the hard work will have been worth it.

Jeremy Bamber is a remarkable, dedicated, resilient, man with a strength of mind which is humbling. A man who I feel proud and privilaged to have as my friend and above all else Jeremy Bamber is an innocent man who will very soon be able to enjoy the freedom which was stolen from him thirty years ago.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the rest of the campaign team for their guidance and support. Jeremy has such a strong, and remarkable team of people who help him daily. We are there to support each other as at times things become difficult but we stand by each other and help each other just as we help Jeremy. Through Jeremy I have the privilege to have come to know these wonderful people and we will all strive to see that justice is done.

Jeremy will be home soon.

Yvonne.

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