Essex Boys murder convictions being reviewed again

Jack Whomes, left, and Michael Steele were jailed in 1998, and Steele is now due to be released from prison

The convictions of the two so-called Essex Boys murderers are being reviewed again, the BBC can reveal.

Jack Whomes and Michael Steele were given life sentences in 1998 for shooting dead Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate in a Range Rover near Chelmsford.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said appeal applications had been received and a "thorough review" was under way.

Essex Police said the case had been "exhaustively examined" both prior to the killers' prosecutions and since they were jailed.

The Parole Board approved 82-year-old Steele's release from prison on Thursday, four years after Whomes was freed.

"It would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment while the applications are under review," a CCRC spokesperson said.

The gangland executions on a farm track in Rettendon inspired the 2000 film Essex Boys, starring Sean Bean, as well as the Rise of the Footsoldier television franchise.

Various other documentaries and books examined its links to the 1990s rave scene.

Craig Rolfe, 26, Tony Tucker, 38, and Pat Tate, 37, were all shot in the head with a pump action shotgun

David McKelvey, a retired Met Police detective chief inspector who was involved in the original investigations, said he was "absolutely convinced" the wrong men were convicted.

It was Mr McKelvey who arrested Darren Nicholls in May 1996 for drugs offences, before the suspect turned so-called supergrass and gave evidence against the defendants.

The former detective chief inspector, now a private investigator, said he was contacted with new evidence about the case "almost on a weekly basis".

"[Steele] should never have been convicted in the first place," said Mr McKelvey, speaking to BBC Essex on Friday.

"There is absolutely, categorically, new evidence.

"More importantly, there was evidence at the time within [Essex Police's] systems that would prove categorically who actually did kill these people."

Despite having arrested him, Mr McKelvey said Nicholls's witness account contained "blatant lies".

The three victims were ambushed while they sat in a Range Rover in Rettendon

The Court of Appeal rejected both killers' bids for freedom in 1999 and 2006, with further appeals dismissed in 2013 and 2016.

The CCRC has reviewed their convictions before, including as recently as January 2023, when it concluded there was "no real possibility" the Court of Appeal would overturn the convictions.

The CCRC, which is an independent body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, launches fresh appeals when strong new evidence or new arguments are presented.

David McKelvey was the police officer who arrested so-called supergrass Darren Nicholls

An Essex Police spokesman said: "This case has been exhaustively examined over the last 27 years.

"We will of course always work with the CCRC and keep any new information under review."