Jeremy Bamber bids for legal action over prison status

Jeremy Bamber in 1985 and in a later, undated photograph

Convicted murderer Jeremy Bamber has launched a legal action over the refusal by the prison service to downgrade him from maximum security.

Bamber, 59, is serving life in prison for killing five members of his family at White House Farm, Essex, in 1985.

His lawyers asked Mr Justice Julian Knowles to grant permission for a full hearing of Bamber's challenge, arguing that the decision was "unreasonable".

The Ministry of Justice is opposing Bamber's action.

At his trial in 1986, Bamber was found guilty of murdering his adoptive parents Nevill and June, both 61, his sister Sheila Caffell 26, and her six-year-old twins Daniel and Nicholas.

He has always protested his innocence and claims Ms Caffell, who suffered from schizophrenia, shot her family before turning the gun on herself.

Bamber has battled against his conviction for more than 30 years

In written documents before the court, Bamber's barrister Matthew Stanbury said his client, who is being held at HMP Wakefield, "is a model prisoner".

Mr Stanbury said an independent psychologist's report, commissioned by Bamber's solicitors, concluded he had met the test for downgrading a Category A prisoner - considered the most dangerous to the public - and that these conditions were "no longer necessary" for managing him.

He argued that the decision not to downgrade Bamber from Category A was "unreasonable" as it "substantially misrepresented" the opinion given by the independent psychologist.

• Who is Jeremy Bamber?

The challenge is the latest action in his long-running battle to clear his name.

He had an appeal against his convictions dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2002, and also had a High Court challenge to the Criminal Cases Review Commission's (CCRC) refusal to refer his case rejected in 2012.

Bamber is in the process of pursuing a fresh application to the CCRC.

Mr Justice Julian Knowles reserved his ruling to a later date.