‘Essex Boys’ killer set for release next month
ONE of two men convicted over the notorious Essex Boys triple gangland murders could be freed in just over a month.
Jack Whomes, now 57, will learn his fate at a Parole Board review later this month, which could see his release on July 7.
Whomes and Michael Steele, now 76, were both convicted of the 1998 murders which went on to inspire the movie Essex Boys.
Supergrass Darren Nicholls told the Old Bailey he drove the pair to a remote farm track in Rettendon, near Basildon, on December 6, 1995.
He said the two men then blasted drug dealers Pat Tate, 37, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, to death with shotguns while they sat in a Range Rover.
Whomes and Steele have always protested their innocence of the murders of the gang, who were linked to the ecstasy pills believed to have caused the death of Leah Betts.
A Parole Board spokesman said: “The panel will carefully look at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original case, and any evidence of behaviour change.
“Parole reviews take place with great care and public safety is our number one priority.” It is believedwhomes, who has been described as a model prisoner after gaining a number of qualifications in jail, is likely to be released.
He had his sentence reduced from 25 to 22 years for good behaviour in 2018.
In March the Sunday Express revealed that prior to the coronavirus lockdown he was working a six-day week as a mechanic in Ipswich after being transferred to an open prison.
The three murder victims were suspected of being the suppliers of a batch of ecstasy pills that 18-year-old Leah took before she died.
An image of her on a life-support machine made national headlines as a warning to others. Several films have been made about the murders, including the original Essex Boys in 2000, starring Sean Bean, Larry Lamb and Tom Wilkinson.
Steele remains a category A prisoner in HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire and is not currently due for release, after his bid to be moved to an open prison was rejected by the Parole Board last year.
A Criminal Case Review Commission re-examination of the convictions of Whomes and Steele is nearing completion.
It centres on a leaked Met Police corruption report from 2002 called Operation Tiberius.
It detailed a criminal gang boss who was recorded telling a retired Met detective that he could “take out” those responsible for supplying the drugs that killed Leah.
The existence of the recording was not disclosed to the jury during the trial.
A source close to Whomes’ legal team said: “Everyone is confident that Jack Whomes will be released from prison next month.
“He will then continue the fight to clear his name.”
Essex Police continue to insist that the right men were convicted over the murders.
NOTORIOUS: Leah Betts’s drug death was linked to trio murdered by Whomes
‘He will continue the fight to clear his name’