The Essex Murders: Private investigators say new evidence ‘points to different killer’ in 1995 Range Rover shooting
It has been almost 30 years since one of the UK’s most notorious murder cases – the gangland shooting of three drug dealers whose bodies were found in a Range Rover parked up on farmland in a small village in Essex.
Patrick Tate, 37, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, were each shot in the head at point-blank range in December 1995.
In 1998, two men, Michael Steele and Jack Whomes, were jailed for the triple murder that became known as one of the UK’s biggest gangland executions.
Search for any of these names online – or type in Essex Boys Murders, Rettendon Murders, Range Rover Murders, and you’ll get thousands of results – news stories, details of appeals, films based on the stories of those involved, interviews with associates, commentary on internet forums, and social media pages set up by armchair detectives.
The killings inspired films in The Rise of the Footsoldier franchise, as well as the 2000 film Essex Boys, starring Sean Bean.
Michael Steele and Jack Whomes (below) were jailed in 1998
Essex Police say the case has been “exhaustively examined” over the years – but despite the convictions, many believe there is more to the story.
Now, private investigators from the firm TM Eye, who began looking into the case in 2020, have told Sky News they have uncovered evidence that casts doubt on the convictions. They believe the real killer has walked free.
The investigation, headed by David McKelvey, a former Met Police detective, will be featured in an upcoming three-part series, The Essex Murders, on Sky Documentaries.
“We would not be doing this if we had any doubts at all,” he told Sky News. “We’re career detectives, we’ve put bad people in prison.
“We would not be trying to get anybody out of prison who we didn’t believe was innocent. Jack Whomes and Michael Steele did not do this.”
Mr McKelvey says the pair were involved in drugs offences, for which they should have been punished.
“But they did not carry out this murder,” he added. “And the important point here is: they didn’t do it, someone else did – and that person or those people are still on the streets.”
The original investigation
TM Eye private investigator David McKelvey. Pic: Sky UK
The bodies of Mr Tate, Mr Tucker and Mr Rolfe were discovered in the Range Rover on farmland in Rettendon, near Chelmsford, on the morning of 7 December 1995.
The scene provided little in the way of forensic evidence, according to reports from the time.
All three men were known by Essex Police; part of the reason the case became so high-profile was that Mr Tucker ran security for Raquels, the nightclub where Leah Betts had taken the ecstasy tablet that led to her death less than a month before the murders.
The TM Eye investigators question Essex Police’s timeline of the night of the murders, alleging the shooting happened at about midnight, rather than just before 7pm – a farmer who heard gunshots backs this in the programme – as well as mobile phone evidence presented during the trial.
But they believe the case against Whomes and Steele rested largely on the testimony of a man called Darren Nicholls.
The word of a ‘supergrass’
In May 1996, the man then known as Darren Nicholls was arrested on suspicion of possessing a large amount of cannabis that had been imported into Clacton from the Netherlands.
While being questioned by police over this case, he told officers it was Steele and Whomes who were behind the Essex Murders and that he had been the getaway driver.
Nicholls, who said the three men had been killed over a bad drugs deal, became known as a “supergrass”; he was placed under witness protection and given a new identity after giving evidence against the pair.
“Our start point was: did Darren Nicholls tell the truth?” Mr McKelvey said. “If he told the truth, then Michael Steele and Jack Whomes are guilty and that’s the end of it. But as we’ve delved into it all a different story has emerged.”
Albert Patrick, another former detective who worked on the private investigation, says: “You have got to be ultra careful when you’re dealing with the evidence of another criminal against a criminal, as simple as that.”
The documentary includes interviews with associates of the three men who died, as well as interviews with experts and police officers who investigated the case.
Former detective Ivan Dibley, who investigated the case at the time, says the right men were jailed. Pic: Sky UK
Former detective superintendent Ivan Dibley admits physical evidence was “scant” and there was an element of Nicholls “saving his own skin”, but that his account had an “enormous” amount of detail; he says his evidence was examined thoroughly and “it was pretty clear that what he said was true”.
There is “no doubt in my mind” that the right men were convicted, he adds. But the TM Eye investigators spoke to criminals, who feature anonymously in the documentary, who tell a different story.
‘A professional assassination’
One man, known as Witness A in the series, maintains the murders were linked to organised crime in east London and that the three men were actually killed over part of the proceeds of a £495,000 armed robbery allegedly being stolen by Mr Tucker.
This man was interviewed by Essex Police shortly after the deaths, the TM Eye investigators say, but his account was not taken any further.
This is the word of another self-confessed criminal – one of the various different accounts of what happened, from people who could have ulterior motives.
The investigators say they have to be cautious, but believe they were able to corroborate this account.
“Because of our backgrounds, our history and our knowledge of organised crime, particularly in east London, we were able to get behind that,” Mr McKelvey says. “We were able to identify officers who dealt with him, criminals who knew him, and his account is compelling.”
Towards the end of their investigation, they spoke to another anonymous witness who tells them he organised the hit.
The target was Mr Tucker, he says, because of the armed robbery. Mr Tate and Mr Rolfe were “collateral damage… wrong place, wrong time”.
“When you put the whole thing together, you had serious and organised crime behind this,” Mr McKelvey says. “You had a professional assassin, a sophisticated assassination.”
The Rise of the Footsoldier
Carlton Leach features in The Essex Murders documentary series. Pic: Sky UK
One person featured in the series is former football hooligan Carlton Leach, a friend and associate of Mr Tucker whose autobiography inspired The Rise of the Footsoldier film franchise.
He tells Sky News he wanted to take part to “speak up” for his friend. While he admits his lifestyle “wasn’t right”, he says there were “a lot of people living in that world, making money [from drugs]”.
He says Mr Tucker had told him of a “meet” with Steele. “So I do know that Mickey Steele was there or involved in how they got there. I can’t say for definite, because I wasn’t there… but I do know he was part of it. As far as I’m concerned, whether he pulled the trigger or not, he was part of the parcel that killed them.”
Read more:
Rise of the Footsoldier origins: The story behind cult Essex films
However, he believes there was at least one other person involved. “I don’t think the person who’s actually killed them has ever been caught, who pulled the trigger. And I think whoever did kill them was an assassin and had done it before… it wasn’t just a random shooting, it wasn’t someone just someone running up to the car. It was a planned murder. And it was done professionally.”
Where are Whomes and Steele now?
Michael Steele and Jack Whomes leaving the High Court under armed guard in 2006, when the sentences were appealed
Since the convictions, the case has been taken to the Court of Appeal several times.
The appeals have been rejected and in 2006 Lord Justice Kay said there was no “element of unsafety” relating to the original convictions of both defendants.
The case has also been reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) and the decision was made in January 2023 not to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal.
Whomes, now 61, had his life sentence reduced in 2018 after making “exceptional progress” in prison and was approved for release under strict licence conditions in 2021, while Steele, 78, has a parole hearing in May.
What do Essex Police and the CCRC say?
The TM Eye investigators say they hope the documentary will encourage even more witnesses to come forward and that they believe the case should be reviewed by an independent police force.
A spokesperson for the CCRC said in a statement: “A comprehensive review has concluded there is no real possibility that the Court of Appeal would overturn these murder convictions.
“The decision notifications were shared with the applicants and their legal representatives.”
A spokesperson for Essex Police said there had been “an exhaustive” investigation into the murders and that the force welcomed the CCRC’s decision “as this case has been exhaustively examined over the last 27 years and there is no fresh evidence identified which would call the original verdicts into question”.
The Essex Murders starts at 9pm on 15 April on Sky Documentaries.
UK
Why seven household names – including Prince Harry – are suing one of Britain’s biggest media groups
Prince Harry and six other household names are suing the publishers of the Daily Mail newspaper over alleged unlawful information gathering dating back 30 years.
The case has been ongoing since 2022 and is just one of several Harry has filed against media organisations since 2019 over alleged breaches of privacy, unlawful practices and false stories.
Associated Newspapers (ANL) – which also publishes The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline – strongly denies any wrongdoing.
A full trial is not expected to start at London’s High Court until January, but a pre-trial hearing, which helps manage the case and resolve any outstanding issues, is set to take place today.
Here is everything you need to know about the case.
What’s alleged?
The alleged unlawful acts are said to have taken place from 1993 to 2011, including the publisher hiring private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside cars and homes and paying police officials for inside information.
When bringing the lawsuit in 2022, lawyers for the claimants said they had become aware of “highly distressing” evidence revealing they had been victims of “abhorrent criminal activity” and “gross breaches of privacy” by Associated Newspapers.
Associated Newspapers denies the allegations, describing them as “preposterous smears”, and claims the legal action is “a fishing expedition by [the] claimants and their lawyers”.
The accusations include:
• The hiring of private investigators to secretly place listening devices inside people’s cars and homes;
• The commissioning of individuals to surreptitiously listen into and record people’s live, private telephone calls while they were taking place;
• The payment of police officials, with corrupt links to private investigators, for inside, sensitive information;
• The impersonation of individuals to obtain medical information from private hospitals, clinics, and treatment centres by deception;
• The accessing of bank accounts, credit histories and financial transactions through illicit means and manipulation.
Pic: iStock
Who else is involved?
While Prince Harry is one of the key players, as a group litigation, he is not the only claimant.
The others include:
• Actress Elizabeth Hurley
• Actress Sadie Frost
• Sir Elton John and his husband, filmmaker David Furnish
• Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of Stephen Lawrence
• Former Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes
Sadie Frost. Pic: PA
Baroness Doreen Lawrence. Pic: AP
They all allege they have been victims of “abhorrent criminal activity” and “gross breaches of privacy” by ANL.
David Sherborne is the lawyer representing all the claimants.
Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish (below). Pic: AP
Pic: AP
What happened in 2023?
During a preliminary hearing in March 2023, Judge Matthew Nicklin was tasked with ruling whether the case can proceed to trial.
ANL had asked for the case to be struck out entirely, arguing the legal challenges against it were brought “far too late”, but David Sherborne called for the publisher’s application to be dismissed.
Lawyers for the publishers said the claims fell outside the statute of limitations – a law indicating that privacy claims should be brought with six years – and the claimants should have known, or could have found out, they had a potential case before October 2016.
Prince Harry at the High Court in 2023
They also argued some aspects of the cases should be thrown out as they breach orders made by Lord Justice Leveson as part of his 2011 inquiry into media standards.
During the hearing, a number of the claimants attended the High Court, including Prince Harry, to the surprise of the British media.
Witness statements from all seven claimants were also released. The duke’s statement said he is bringing the claim “because I love my country” and remains “deeply concerned” by the “unchecked power, influence and criminality” of the publisher.
“If the most influential newspaper company can successfully evade justice, then in my opinion the whole country is doomed,” he said.
On 10 November 2023, Mr Justice Nicklin gave the go-ahead for the case to go to trial, saying ANL had “not been able to deliver a ‘knockout blow’ to the claims of any of these claimants”.
What’s happened since?
Earlier this year, lawyers for the claimants sought to amend their case to add a swathe of new allegations for the trial.
They argued that they should be allowed to rely on evidence that they said showed the Mail was involved in targeting Kate, the Princess of Wales.
However, Mr Justice Nicklin ruled this allegation was brought too late before trial.
In a further development in November, the High Court heard that a key witness in the case, private investigator Gavin Burrows, claimed his signature on a statement confirming alleged hacking had taken place, was forged.
Lawyer David Sherborne is representing all the claimants
In the statement from 2021, Mr Burrows allegedly claimed to have hacked voicemails, tapped landlines, and accessed financial and medical information at the request of a journalist at the Mail On Sunday.
The statement was important, as five of the seven claimants involved in the case told the court they embarked on legal action against ANL based on evidence apparently obtained by Mr Burrows.
Mr Burrows previously retracted his statement in 2023, but the court heard he reiterated the denial to ANL’s lawyers in September this year.
It is now up to the claimant’s lawyer Mr Sherborne to decide if he still wants to call Mr Burrows as a witness for the trial.
Mr Justice Nicklin previously said if Mr Burrows gave evidence that was inconsistent with the evidence they had obtained, then he could apply to treat him as “hostile”.
Could the case end before going to trial?
In short, yes.
During pre-trial reviews, cases can either be settled or dismissed from court in both civil and criminal cases, meaning no trial will take place.
This happened in Harry’s case against News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes The Sun. The duke made similar accusations about NGN, which involved unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators.
Before an up-to 10-week trial began earlier this year, it was announced both sides had “reached an agreement” and that NGN had offered an apology to Harry and would pay “substantial damages”.
The settlement was reported to be worth more than £10m, mostly in legal fees.
Another of Harry’s legal cases, this time against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over accusations of historical phone hacking, did go to trial.
The trial saw Harry take to the witness box, making him the first senior royal to give evidence in a courtroom since the 19th century.
In December 2023, the Honourable Mr Justice Fancourt concluded that the duke’s phone had been hacked “to a modest extent” between 2003 and 2009, and 15 of 33 articles he complained about were the product of unlawful techniques.
He was awarded £140,600 in damages. During a further hearing in February 2024 a settlement was reached between Harry and MGN over the remaining parts of his claim.
If the ANL trial does go ahead early next year, it is unknown if Harry will travel to London to attend.
Bereaved families of black, minorities and migrant women who died after suffering violence and abuse have called on the prime minister to help end femicide.
At a Downing Street vigil on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the group said urgent reforms to policing and sentencing are needed “to address systemic failures”.
Yasmin Javed, whose daughter Fawziyah Javed was killed after being pushed by her husband from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, said authorities had ignored Fawziyah’s reports of abuse.
Fawziyah Javed died after being pushed by her husband from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh
“It fell on deaf ears,” she told Sky News, explaining that Fawziyah, 31, who was pregnant when she died, had made complaints about her husband but had been murdered days before she was set to leave him.
“We’ve had our hearts ripped into millions of pieces. It’s not getting any easier, it’s getting more and more difficult.”
Kashif Anwar was convicted of Fawziyah’s murder and was jailed for at least 20 years in 2023.
Tuesday’s vigil highlighted key legislative amendments the families, led by campaign group Southall Black Sisters, are championing.
The amendments include Banaz’s Law, named after 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod, who was subjected to an horrific assault, strangled and stuffed in a suitcase by family members on the orders of her father.
The Downing Street vigil took place on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
The amendment seeks to explicitly recognise “honour-based” abuse as an aggravating factor in sentencing for relevant offences.
The families also want courts to impose sentences equivalent to murder for self-harm and suicides driven by domestic and “honour”-based abuse, and say the government must ensure all women have equal access to safety and support, regardless of immigration status.
Banaz Mahmod’s sister Bekhal, who testified against her relatives to help secure their conviction, said nearly two decades after the murder, efforts to protect women had not progressed.
Banaz Mahmod was killed on the orders of her father
Speaking from an undisclosed location in the witness protection scheme, she said the murder “happened in 2006, and we’re almost in 2026 – that’s 20 years later. Not much has changed and it’s very, very disappointing.
“What happened to Banaz has happened, but what we could do is prevent it from happening to other people. I don’t understand why much more hasn’t been done to better the situation for others.”
A man charged with the murder of two women within five months of each other, and the rape of a third, has appeared in court.
Appearing at the Old Bailey via videolink on Wednesday, Simon Levy only spoke to confirm his name and was not asked to enter a plea to any of the charges.
Levy, 40, of Beaufoy Road, Tottenham, was charged in September with the murder of 39-year-old Sheryl Wilkins in Tottenham, north London, on 24 August.
While in custody, he was also charged with the murder of Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo, from Colombia, who died on the Aylesbury Estate, southeast London, in March.
Levy is alleged to have murdered Carmenza Valencia-Trujillo in March. Pic: Met Police
Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court that Ms Valencia-Trujillo was found in a block of flats that is “very largely disused” with few residents or passers-by except security guards.
He said: “The body of the deceased was found in the early evening of 17 March 2025 in a block of flats very largely disused, so it does not contain many residents nor many people passing by apart from the odd security officer who patrol the area for safety.”
It is alleged that he travelled to the area the day before and that he killed her during the course of a sexual encounter.
Levy was also charged with the murder of Sheryl Wilkins. Pic: Met Police
Levy was also accused of grievous bodily harm with intent, non-fatal strangulation and two counts of rape against a third woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in Haringey, north London, on 21 January, police said.
The Met Police said on Monday that all three cases are now being treated as part of a single, joined investigation and a trial date has been set for June 2026 at the Old Bailey.
Read more from Sky News:
Paul Doyle in tears as he admits driving into Liverpool fans at parade
Man accused of trying to drown daughter-in-law released after plea deal
Judge Mark Lucraft KC remanded him in custody to appear at the Old Bailey for a plea and case management hearing on 23 February.
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