'Essex Boys' murders: Michael Steele parole review due to conclude

A parole review to determine the possible release of a man convicted after an infamous triple murder in Essex is due to conclude on Thursday.

Michael Steele was jailed in 1998 after drug dealers Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate were shot dead in a Range Rover in Rettendon on 6 December 1995.

Steele, now believed to be 80 years old, of Great Bentley near Colchester, has always protested his innocence.

A decision from the government's Parole Board is due within 14 days.

The so-called Essex Boys murders prompted several books, TV series and films, examining its links with other high profile homicides and its connection to the 1990s rave scene.

Steele's co-defendant Jack Whomes, of Brockford, Suffolk, had his sentence reduced in 2018 following "exemplary" behaviour, and was released from prison in 2021.

Court of Appeal applications by the defendants' lawyers, in an attempt to overturn their convictions, were brought in 2006, 2013 and 2016.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission - an independent body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice - decided as recently as January not to refer another appeal to the courts.

A panel of three people is expected to examine evidence of the original crime and consider any behaviour change during the two-day hearing, which began on Wednesday.

It is Steele's second parole review to date.

A Parole Board spokesperson said decisions were "solely focused" on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public and whether that risk was "manageable in the community".

Witnesses, psychologists, prison officials and the prisoner themselves ordinarily give live evidence.

The spokesperson added: "Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority."

Steele has been in custody at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire in recent months.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]