The Missing 999 Call

[Erik Narramore]

I thought the issue raised by the Campaign Team was that Bonnett may have taken two calls and merged his record of them together on a single call log, the idea being that a telephone log is just a running record and if you have a single incident in which, coincidentally, the same call operator is involved, then it's an easy to make the mistake of converging the details and perhaps forgetting an earlier call.  Did Bonnett actually receive direct 999 calls?  I've never seen that question resolved.  The other possibility, which I mooted on the other thread, is that Nevill made an abortive call, and due to his injuries, he couldn't speak down the line so it was terminated.

The irony of all this is that the lack of a 999 call could have undermined the prosecution more than the defence.

Regarding the timings, actually in the end West never admitted that he had got it wrong.  It remained in dispute and the judge - supposedly - decided to err on the side of Jeremy Bamber on that point.  However the times in West's two statements are in conflict.  One has it at 3.26 a.m, the other at 3.36 a.m, and in his evidence at trial it's left open.  It's altogether very unsatisfactory.  I simply don't understand how somebody can say that West didn't change his evidence or suggest that it is not of significance.

[Erik Narramore]

I'm undecided on the point and would like to consider the evidence further and reflect.

I also think that the discovery of a 999 call from Nevill would not necessarily assist the defence, in fact it could undermine them.  It very much would depend on the timing of the call.