The Essex Boys Case

21/02/2024

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Public Inquiry into the Miscarriage of Justice Involving Darren Nicholls and Jack Whomes

28/11/2023

https://youtu.be/8lXxGBymYjY?si=hNgKEUZAdmhp_y99

11/09/2023

Carlton Leach & Nigel Benn On Tony Tucker

11/09/2023

Paul Betts Father of Leah Betts Talking About The Murders

11/09/2023

Tucker Benn & Leach

09/09/2023

Pat Tate

09/09/2023

Crimescene Footage

09/09/2023

Brynmount Lodge

07/09/2023

The farmers who discovered the Range Rover

07/09/2023

Pat Tate’s Answer Machine Messages

07/09/2023

Tony Tucker’s Answer Machine Messages

06/09/2023

06/09/2023

Donna Jaggers Police Appeal

06/09/2023

8/12/95 - Trio lured to their deaths
Evening Echo

THE THREE men found murdered in a Range Rover parked in a remote lane off the A130 were known villains from south Essex and could have been victims of a gangland killing.

But police refused to comment this morning on speculation that the murders, in the quiet village of Rettendon, are linked to drug dealing connected with the death of teenager Leah Betts.

One of the dead men was Patrick Tate, 37, of Gordon Road, Basildon, who had convictions for having co***ne with intent to supply and robbery.
The others were Craig Rolfe, 26, of Calshot Avenue, Chafford Hundred, and Anthony Tucker, 38, of High Road, Fobbing. Tucker was a former bodyguard to boxer Nigel Benn.

Murder inquiry detectives are keeping an open mind on the possibility that the men, who were discovered at Workhouse Lane yesterday morning, were shot point blank by someone from the criminal underworld.

Det Supt Ivan Dibley said: "It is a possibility. But there are a number of other possibilities. This was no ordinary murder. These men were enticed to their deaths."

But a police spokesman, when asked about allegations that the killings were connected to an Ecstasy drugs ring, said: "We are fully aware of the suggestions being made but we have nothing new to say at the moment"

The killings come just two months after a man dressed in a clown suit ,shot a patient at St Andrew', Hospital, Blllericay, in another gangland action.

The bodies were found by a farmer and his friend as they drove up the snow-covered track near Wickford.The two men in the front were upright with gunshot wounds to the head; the third man was slumped accoss the back seat.

There are no tracks from any other vehicle or footprints of leading away from the scene which is metres from the busy A130 One of the dead men was the known owner of the metallic blue vehicle though he was not the registered owner.It was bought from Eastern Garage at Five Bells, Vange, about a month ago and had the registration F424 NPE.

Tate was hunted by police for over a year after a daring escape from Blllericay Court on a motorbike in 1969 He was eventually tracked down in Gibraltar and returned to this country. Police have not recovered the weapon used to shoot the men, who were In casual clothes and were not wearing seatbelts, and they do not know the motive for the killings.

Mr Dlbley, who is running the investigation with 30 officers, said at a press conference last night "We still don't know the motive but this may become clearer when we have positively identified these men " The window behind the front passenger seat was broken and shotgun cartridges were found near the scene.The dead men had not been tied or restrained with ropes and there was no sign of a struggle.

Dr Dibley added "Whoever killed these three people is clearly a very dangerous man and until we catch him I am concerned that he is at large "

06/09/2023

04/09/2023

Craig Rolfe

04/09/2023

Tony Tucker

04/09/2023

Pat Tate

04/09/2023

News Reports

04/09/2023

Police Following The Range Rover Footage 7/12/95

04/09/2023

The Police Dispatch Call

04/09/2023

The 999 Call

04/09/2023

Peter Theobald & Ken Jiggens

04/09/2023

05/09/97 - Farmer's shock over gun blast bodies
Evening Echo

THE farmer who chanced upon a Range Rover containing the bloodied bodies of three drug barons, admitted he was astounded when police claimed it had been parked there overnight.

Peter Theobald told an Old Bailey jury he thought the vehicle and its grisly load could only have been there a matter of hours as there was no ice on the windows and no snow on the roof.

Yet when he and his friend bricklayer Ken Jiggins - had set off from nearby Whitehouse Farm that fateful morning, they had been forced to deice their Land Rover windscreen.It had been frosted up by the cold weather and a light layer of snow which had fallen.Mr Theobald said: "I just didn't think that Range Rover had been there overnight."

The dead men were Pat Tate, 37, of Gordon Road, Basildon, Tony Tucker, 38, of High Road, Fobbing, and Craig Rolfe, 26, of Calshot Avenue, Chafford Hundred. The prosecution claims they had been lured to their deaths with the promise of a co***ne deal.

Two men, Jack Whomes, 36, of Main Road, Brockford, Suffolk, and Michael Steele, 54, of St Mary's Road, Great Bentley, Essex, deny killing them with a shotgun. Whomes and Steele are also accused of conspiring with Peter Corry, 45, of London Road, Clacton, to smuggle cannabis between August 1, 1995, and November 10 that year. They have all pleaded not guilty.

Steele faces a separate charge of illegally possessing an eight-shot pump action shotgun from January 1 to May, 1996, which he also denies. The court heard that Mr Theobald used Workhouse Lane in Rettendon, the scene of the murders, twice a day to feed pheasants kept on his farm.

On December 7,1995, Mr Jiggins was with him as they drove down the remote and bumpy track at about 8am.It had snowed sometime during the night and the pair, wary of poachers, kept an eye out for fresh tyre tracks on the lane.

But as they reached the last gate before the woods they found a Range Rover blocking their way.Mr Jiggins went up to the vehicle and tapped on the window before making the gruesome discovery of the bodies inside.

The pair alerted police and the two uniformed officers who arrived less than 20 minutes later faced a daunting task. PC Barry Knights and Sgt Chris Atkins had been on normal uniform patrol when they received a call to Rettendon.

Neither was prepared for the scale of destruction they found. When they saw the three slumped figures they got straight on the phone to the force's Chelmsford HQ and asked for reinforcements.

Within hours the quiet country lane was swarming with police and scenes of crimes officers as the huge investigation began.

04/09/2023

Kenneth Jiggins has been a close friend of the farmer who farms White House Farm, Peter Theobald, for 25 years. He helps in the pheasant shoot and the duck shoot. Work House Lane at the time had a single metal gate across the track which lead to the fields, the pond, the wood and further onto the farm.

The gate was normally locked in the shooting season, which this was, from mid-July to the end of February in order to deter poachers.

On 6th December 1995 Mr Jiggins went about 4 in the afternoon to feed the pheasants and the ducks, but he only fed the ducks, it was too late for the pheasants. He drove back through the gate way and locked the gate at about 5 o'clock. He thought the snow had just stopped and there was no other vehicle on the route.

Next morning, 7th December at 7.45, he went to the yard, met Peter Theobald and Peter Theobald, drove him in the Land Rover down the track.

There was a lot of snow and ice over the puddles as they drove and none of the ice had been broken. It was about 8 o'clock that they came across the blue Range Rover parked facing towards the gate. They stopped 20 yards short of it. Mr Jiggins went to the driver's side to ask whoever was inside to move so they could get through into the field, he tapped on the driver's window but did not look at the window. It was because he got no response that he did then look down through the window and saw what must of been the dreadful sight of the driver's head lying to one side of the window with blood coming from his nose and mouth.

The front passenger's head was slumped forward and there was lots of blood to his head and chest. It was only the two bodies in the front that Mr Jiggins noticed and he called to Peter Theobald telling him what he had seen mentioning only two people.
Peter Theobald came down to the Range Rover and as Mr Jiggins was making a 999 call Peter Theobald said, "There's one in the back as well." They got in their Land Rover, turned round, went back to the A130 to await the police who had been called on the telephone. The police came after about 5 minutes and left their vehicle at the start of the track.

All four, the two police officers and the two farmers, walked back towards the top of the lane, but the two civilians did not go as far as the police officers and waited further down the track. Cross-examined by Mr Parkins Mr Jiggins said that the A130 was a very busy road mornings and evenings. Seven to nine in the morning, four-fortyfive until six-thirtish. He also said that courting couples used the track as a lovers' lane. There was a padlock on the gate for six to nine months replacing one that was lost and there was a fishing syndicate of about ten to fifteen people who would have several keys. There was a way to the gate from the other side but you had to go across fields. He looked at the photographs and said the tyre marks looked fresh.

That is the ones on the other side of the fence, but the ruts were deeper and that is why they looked undisturbed. The first dark stretch was a deeper track. Rettendon Hall was on higher ground had a view down into Work House Lane. The lane was fairly low down and then the land rose up to Meadow Road. He did not see signs of well-defined shoe prints; he did not walk round the Land Rover. His own Wellingtons were nine in size, they were taken from him by the police.

He did not look for cartridge cases. Cross-examined by Mr Lederman he said there was some snow on the morning of 7th December and in certain parts there was fluffy snow and ice. In other parts that were sheltered there was very little snow. Mr Theobald gave you similar evidence about the gate always being locked. He told you about going down on the morning of 7th December with Mr Jiggins and getting to the Range Rover parked in front of the gate, and about Mr Jiggins going to the driver's window, tapping on it, getting no response, calling to him; and he spoke of seeing the third body himself.

He talked of the mobile phone being used and of them driving back to the A130 and then going off to feed the birds but not using that track. In cross-examination he said all the shooting syndicate had keys so there were ten or a dozen keys to the gate. They had retreated from the Range Rover so as not to interfere with any marks. His own Wellington boots were taken. Their vehicle had not been down the track after 7 o'clock on the previous evening. The next morning they had to defrost it.

There was no frost or snow anywhere on the roof or the windscreen of the Range Rover. No steaming up of the interior. He would have expected it to be frosted up if it was there for many hours. In cross-examination by Mr Lederman he said there was enough frost to need to defrost his own vehicle. His own vehicle had been parked since 5 PM the previous night at the farm yard which was fairly open to the weather.

Barry Knights, a police constable, and Sergeant Christopher Atkins were those first two police officers who arrived in a police car at 8.17 on the Thursday morning and were there for about 5 hours. They saw and spoke to the two farmers, Mr Theobald and Mr Jiggins, and then walked down the track which was a single vehicle route and had about 2.5 centimeters, about an inch of snow on it. They saw that what was obviously Mr Jiggin's vehicle had made two tyre tracks down the track. As they rounded the right hand bend Mr Knights immediately saw the Range Rover and later the registration F424 NPE.

He asked Jiggins and Theobald to stop when they were 25 yards from the vehicle. The Range Rover was quite dirty and the only area he could see through was the rear windscreen wash and wipe. The gate was about 5 yards in front of the vehicle. He saw the two bodies in the front seats and walked to the off-side of the vehicle and saw 3 blue shotgun cartridges lying in the snow beside the driver's door in photograph 2.7.

You might find it useful to have your photographs with you members of the jury. 2.7 is the view looking at the front of the Range Rover. On the far left you can see the blue cartridges though they are clearer seen in other photographs. The driver was sitting in a normal position with his head leaning on his left shoulder. You can see that. The front passenger had his chin on his chest. There was a third person sitting in the back that you can see from other photographs. Sitting slightly slumped, leaning forwards against the nearside passenger window with his head against the window which was actually smashed.

Mr Knights walked around the rear of the vehicle and stood at the rear nearside corner and saw a blue shotgun cartridge on the ground outside the rear passenger door. You can see that in photograph 9. That is the rear nearside passenger door. He could see the large wound clearly visible in the rear passenger's head which was leaning against the broken window. After a brief conversation with Sergeant Atkins it was Knights that was left by the scene by the others.

Sergeant Atkins went to call for assistance from other police and he stayed in a small turning off the track. It was his job to protect the scene (Mr Parkins asked him, and he agreed in cross-examination) and make sure nobody approached until senior officers could assess the situation. He looked for a pattern of anyone walking down the lane but there were no signs except for the vehicle going down. There were points to indicate people had been up to the scene. Atkins and he were very careful not to disturb anything and not to let things be trodden on. He tried not to tread on the footprints. His own boots were taken for testing and he would have expected any footwear of anyone who went near the vehicle to be taken to be tested.

He was the first person there apart from the farmers. He could not define what footprints there were but they were in different directions around the vehicle. He could not define who made them. To the rear of the vehicle and on the off-side there were two marks he saw himself. He did not touch any cartridge case. He only noticed the three on the off-side and the one at the nearside. He got bomb tape from his vehicle and put it down to make a track on one side. Nobody wandered down the track. He was in the turning area and he did not see anyone where he was.

He looked at other photographs. You have them members of the jury. 10 you can see the cartridge case by the wheel, 11 likewise you can see two cartridge cases, 12 you can see one. 12 in fact is of course expanded on later and I will briefly refer to it when I move on in a minute or two. You know that 12 is Exhibit 34 which was an enlargement and was another enlargement of the same part of the scene but from a different angle which is now our Exhibit 108. 13 is the gate with its padlock. 15 is a view inside the car to show a door pocket. 16, if you would look now, is Exhibit 108 which you have in greater scale in what I am holding up.

He said he definitely would not of put his police boot near any cartridge that you see in those photographs. In re-examination he told you that as the snow was melting he informed the other officers further away what was happening. They were at the A130 end of the track. From his position nobody could come past without his seeing it. Nobody did, whether a member of the public or a reporter or whatever.

Sergeant Christopher Atkins had come down the track with Mr Knights and had seen Mr Jiggins and Mr Theobald. When he looked at the Range Rover he saw no obvious snow on the roof and he saw the bodies. There was about an inch of snow on the track but no snow in front of vehicle. The windows were not iced up. He went from the back driver's side to the driver's window and then to the back and then down the passenger's side of the vehicle. He walked down the nearside and then went back to the track and he put tape across the track which you have seen and do not need to look at again in photograph 5. Then PC Morris joined him and they went down the track and kept a log of those attending at the A130.

He said in cross-examination it was in the middle of a cold spell and all vehicles out for a length of time would have had ice or snow on them. He had Doc Martins type boots but not Doc Martins with a block pattern. He said, "Once we were aware of what we'd got," meaning the sight he had found in the Range Rover, "we were very careful where we put our feet." There was quite a covering of snow at that time, about an inch. Foot marks can be a valuable assistance. He walked halfway down the nearside of the car and did not remember any cartridge case on that nearside. He would have recorded it if he had. He was taking great care bearing in mind what he was looking at. He said there are a thousand and one things on his mind when he was looking inside the vehicle.

04/09/2023

Crime Scene photos

04/09/2023

The bodies of the three victims Patrick Tate,Antony Tucker & Craig Rolfe were discovered in the Range Rover by two local farmers at around 7:45 on the morning of 7th December 1995.

A forensic scientist gave evidence that he believed that eight shots had been fired. Seven cartridge cases were recovered, all of which had come from the same weapon.

04/09/2023