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.
Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh told Glastonbury he is a “free man” as the Irish rap band played to a huge crowd – the biggest of their career, they said.
The trio were defiant on stage after calls from some politicians for them to be cut from the line-up.
They were greeted by cheers of support, and dozens of Palestinian flags waving in the crowd, as well as Irish flags and a few “Free Mo Chara” T-shirts.
J J O Dochartaigh, aka DJ Provai. Pic: Reuters
The trio drew a big crowd to the West Holts stage. Pic: Reuters
On stage, the band told fans their legal case had been stressful, but emphasised it was nothing compared with what Palestinians are going through.
Kneecap played the West Holts stage, which has a capacity of about 30,000, and the area was closed by security about 45 minutes before their set.
O hAnnaidh and Naoise O Caireallain, aka Moglai Bap (right) . Pic: Reuters
A reveller wears a balaclava in the colours of the Irish flag. Pic: Reuters
They started with a montage of news readers covering O hAnnaidh’s charge. “Has anybody been watching the news?” bandmate Naoise O Caireallain joked.
They also thanked Glastonbury organisers Michael Eavis and daughter Emily for not bowing to pressure to remove them from the bill.
Earlier on Saturday, the BBC confirmed they would not be live-streaming the set but said the performance is likely to be made available on-demand later.
It is understood the performance will need to be reviewed beforehand.
O hAnnaidh outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London earlier this month. Pic: PA
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, also known as Liam O’Hanna – or by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence in May and appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.
Outside the court, he and bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh were cheered by hundreds of supporters.
O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of the proscribed group Hezbollah at a gig in London last November, after video footage circulated online.
He was released on bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
One of the band’s lawyers said they would always “defend not only their rights, but the rights of artists and people all around the world”.
Supporters gathered outside the court. Pic: PA
On social media, O hAnnaidh and the band denied support for Hezbollah after the charge was announced, but the trio are unwavering in their support for Palestinians and speaking out against the war in Gaza.
But as the band were removed from other festivals, there were calls from some for them to be taken off the bill at Glastonbury, too – with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer saying he thought they should be axed.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also said the BBC “should not be showing” the trio’s set in a post on social media last week.
Kneecap have the support of dozens of musicians including Massive Attack, Pulp, Primal Scream and Paul Weller, who signed an open letter in May saying there had been a “concerted attempt to censor and ultimately de-platform” the group.
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Kneecap released their first single in 2017 and built a loyal fanbase in the following years.
They rose to wider prominence in 2024 following the release of their debut album and award-winning eponymous film – a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and their fight to save the Irish language.
Entertainment
Robbie Williams addresses Glastonbury rumours – as excitement builds for ‘secret’ sets
Pulp tried to quash the rumours, Robbie Williams was happy to fuel them – sharing a picture of a blue plaque in his name apparently slapped over a famous Glastonbury sign, before seemingly backtracking.
“30 years later…” he captioned his first social media post early on Friday morning – a reference to his headline-grabbing attendance in 1995.
This was the year Williams was famously pictured partying with Oasis‘s Liam and Noel Gallagher, shunning the boyband shackles with bleached-blonde hair and a blacked-out tooth. The writing was on the wall, and the announcement of his departure from Take That came just a few weeks later.
At Glastonbury this year, is the writing quite literally on the wall for a comeback?
Well, maybe not. A few hours after his post, Williams shared another, less cryptic message to say he would not be performing, along with his list of recommended acts to go and see – The 1975, Busta Rhymes, Charli XCX, Self Esteem and Reverend And The Makers, if you’re interested.
Is he bluffing? Double-bluffing? Who knows, but along with celeb spotting and mud, if there’s one topic of conversation that makes headlines when it comes to Glastonbury, it’s speculation about secret artists. Williams has got everybody talking.
Even before his posts, the Let Me Entertain You singer was among the artists rumoured to be performing secret sets this year, along with Pulp and Haim. Lewis Capaldi and Lorde too, with both “TBA” acts turning out to huge crowds on Friday.
Liam Gallagher And Robbie Williams at Glastonbury Festival in 1995. Pic: Brian Rasic/Getty Images
In recent years, these surprise sets have turned into some of the event’s most memorable moments – think Foo Fighters as “The ChurnUps” in 2023, Pulp’s comeback in 2011, and Lady Gaga treating fans to a small performance in one of the festival’s after hours areas, Shangri-La, in 2009.
Franz Ferdinand, famous for hits including Take Me Out and Do You Want To in the mid-2000s, were the first to do it back in 2008. This was actually due to Pete Doherty’s band Babyshambles pulling out last-minute, but the approach to announcing the switch was, at the time, a novel one.
While officially, the act was “TBA”, frontman Alex Kapranos wasn’t great at keeping the secret, worried people might not turn up. He and bandmates handed out fliers, and word spread.
Franz Ferdinand played the first ever big ‘secret’ set back in 2008. Pic: Yui Mok/ PA
“We played on the Park Stage and we thought, ‘nobody’s going to know we’re playing’,” Kapranos told Sky News ahead of a return performance on Friday. “It actually ended up being one of the most amazing gigs we’ve ever played, people were so up for it and going crazy.
“We weren’t keeping it secret. We were walking about like, ‘we’re playing later on, check it out’. We’re a band from Glasgow called Franz Ferdinand.”
These now not-so-secret performances have become bigger and bigger as each festival rolls around, with leaks making headlines in the run-up to the event.
Providing handy tips and hints – and often eventually confirmation, just in time for fans to be in position – is the Secret Glasto team. They have no official ties to Glastonbury, but over the years have become a reliable source of information.
The account’s founder, who now works in a team of six, spoke to us on site – incognito, of course.
“We’ve got our own sources and we can start checking things because we’ve now had enough years that we can check in with several people,” he said. “And they trust us because we are quite sensible with when we time announcements, which I think is the key thing.”
Sometimes acts themselves will confirm, they said. Their success rate for predictions is “in the low 90%” – but dragged down mainly by inexperience in their first year, which was 2014.
Capaldi’s comeback yesterday, two years after struggling on stage at Glastonbury in 2023, was a special moment.
“It was really, really heartwarming to see him get back up,” Secret Glasto said. “There was such goodwill in the crowd and it was just magical. It’s just what secret sets should be about.”
Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker performing on the Park Stage for a secret set at Glastonbury 2011. Pic: AP/ Mark Allan
On Saturday evening, a non-existent act called Patchwork have a pretty important billing just before Raye and then headliner Neil Young on the Pyramid Stage.
Pulp keyboard player Candida Doyle dampened rumours by reportedly saying in an interview earlier this month Glastonbury “weren’t interested” in booking the band.
But is this true?
“It happens a few times,” Secret Glasto said, of artists maybe telling little white lies to keep the secret for as long as possible. “They’ve got to keep the suspense somehow…
“Sources that we got for Pulp were really, really strong. It’s just so exciting for us, for the whole team. This is the most exciting secret set that Glastonbury’s ever done.”
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It’s a fine balance – not spoiling the surprise but giving fans enough time to get where they want to be. When a festival is this big – home to around 200,000 people over the weekend – at a lot of stages, fans need to be in place early.
“The point is to always make sure people can get to the set if they wanted to.” But if a huge artist is going to surprise fans on a very small stage, sometimes they have to keep schtum for safety concerns over huge crowds. “Sometimes we’re like, we can’t print this.”
So, will Williams be playing? The rumour is that he could be joining his mate Rod Stewart, who is performing on the Pyramid Stage in the “legends” slot on Sunday.
“Robbie Williams entered this area without accreditation, authorisation, or alignment with prevailing taste,” according to the blue plaque in his social media tease, of his attendance in 1995. “His presence was uninvited, unofficial and ultimately inevitable.”
In his candid documentary series, and biopic Better Man, both released last year, Williams has been open about his struggles with fame and imposter syndrome, and how as an artist known for pop he craved respect from those seen as more credible at a time when indie music reigned.
Officially this year, there is no Robbie Williams on the line-up. Unofficially, who knows? But 30 years since his partying with the Gallaghers, pop music is embraced – and there would be a lot of love for the star if he did make an appearance now.
Lewis Capaldi has made an emotional comeback with a “secret” performance at Glastonbury – two years after announcing a break from the spotlight, where he struggled on stage at the festival.
After revealing his new song, Survive, earlier in the day, Capaldi took to the Pyramid Stage and surveyed the huge crowd in front of him as he launched into his 2019 hit, Before You Go.
“Glastonbury, how you doing?” was the simple introduction after the first chorus, and then came his second song, Grace.
Fan support for Lewis Capaldi was clear. Pic: PA
Before the next one, the Scottish star took it all in again and told the audience: “Glastonbury, it’s so good to be back… I’m not going to say much up here today because if I do, I’ll probably start crying.”
But, he added, he wanted to thank his fans, and “finish what I couldn’t the first time round”.
Along with the headliners and the Sunday afternoon “legends slots”, secret sets from the likes of Foo Fighters, The Killers, and Radiohead have become some of the most talked-about performances at Glastonbury in recent years.
This time round, there had been much speculation about some of the big unannounced slots on the bill – in particular the TBA act scheduled to appear on the festival’s main stage, the Pyramid Stage, just before Alanis Morissette on Friday afternoon.
With various clues trailed on social media and in Glasgow, where Capaldi was born, and Castle Cary, near Glastonbury, by the time Capaldi walked on stage, it was in reality no secret to all but a few of the huge crowd that had turned out for the “surprise”.
Lewis Capaldi performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Pic: PA
The 28-year-old acknowledged the absurdity of his set being “TBA”, describing it as the “worst kept secret” and joking: “I don’t know who’s been f*****g telling people.”
There were chants of “Oh, Lewis Capaldi!” from the crowd before he began his next songs, including Hold Me While You Wait, Bruises, Forget Me, and Someone You Loved.
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His performance was more than just a surprise set.
A few months before his last appearance at Glastonbury, again on the Pyramid Stage, in 2023, Capaldi had released the all-access documentary, How I’m Feeling Now.
It showed his rise from viral hit-maker to a star whose debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, became the biggest-selling in the UK in its year of release – and the year after, too.
No mean feat when you consider his competition – Ed Sheeran was second in 2019 and Harry Styles in 2020.
Capaldi on stage at the festival in 2023. Pic: PA
Fans have always loved Capaldi not just for his talent as a singer and songwriter, but for his class-clown humour and his unfiltered, indifferent style.
But his sense of humour and anti-celebrity attitude masked struggles with his mental health and Tourette’s, which he spoke about candidly in the film.
At Glastonbury in 2023, the strain was clear.
Prior to the performance, he had cancelled several shows to rest and recover. On stage, he apologised as he prepared to belt out his hit song Someone You Loved.
“I’m going to be honest, everybody, but I’m starting to lose my voice up here, but we’re going to keep going and we’re going to go until the end,” he told the crowd.
“I just need you all to sing with me as loud as you can, if that’s okay?”
Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now. Pic: Netflix
And of course they did, the voices of tens of thousands of people carrying him through.
In a statement afterwards, the star said the sentiment had meant “the world”, before announcing a break for “the foreseeable future”.
“I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this, and I’d hoped three weeks away would sort me out,” he said.
“But the truth is I’m still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette’s and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come.”
In May, Capaldi performed his first show in two years – a charity gig in Edinburgh to raise funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably (Calm), a mental health charity he has supported over the years.
For most artists, playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury is a dream. Now, Capaldi has achieved it once again – this time, fans didn’t need to help him with the sing-along, but of course they joined him anyway. The love from the audience was clear.
“How far will you go to get back to the place you belong?” is one of the lines from Survive.
With this performance, Capaldi showed that this, one of the world’s most famous stages, is still that place for him.
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