Bamber -

CONVICTED killer Jeremy Bamber last nightsaid he would be free within weeks after his new lawyer claimed he had evidence that could make see his client's life sentence quashed.

Speaking exclusively to the EADT from prison, Bamber, convicted of the murder of his adoptive family in 1985, said: "At long last, after all this time, evidence to prove my alibi has finally come out. I'm a happy and hopeful man."

The 42-year-old, described by his Chelmsford trial judge in 1986 as "warped and evil beyond belief", was speaking after his defence lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, claimed his case was proceeding through the appeals system as a matter of urgency.

The Italian-born lawyer said evidence submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission reveals Bamber was outside the Tolleshunt D'Arcy farm with police while officers were having a conversation with someone inside.

Mr di Stefano insisted that proved someone was still in the farm alive - and that person, therefore, must have been the killer.

Bamber said from Full Sutton prison, near York: "If the police were talking to someone for 45 minutes in the house, then I can't be the murderer.

"We saw someone in the window of the house that night and now there's something that supports it.

"I think it's such a shame that my alibi evidence has not come out earlier, but I'm very pleased that it is now.

"Everyone in here has been really supportive of me and they just want to see me get out, which hopefully will be in the next few weeks.

Bamber, who has always maintained his innocence, was convicted of killing his 61-year-old parents and his sister and two nephews at the family's White House Farm in Tolleshunt D'Arcy in August 1985.

The trial jury had been told that his mother June and six-year-old nephews Nicholas and Daniel were shot dead in their beds.

His father, Nevill, was found dead downstairs, and his sister, Sheila Caffell, a model known as 'Bambi', was found by her parents' bed.

Detectives at first accepted Bamber's claim that Ms Caffell, who had not been taking medication for mental health problems, had used the rifle and shot her parents and her two children, then killed herself. The gun was found in her hands.

The jury heard that Bamber claimed his father had phoned him in the early hours to say Sheila had "gone crazy" with a gun.

But the prosecution alleged that Bamber, who stood to inherit nearly £500,000, had already killed the household before he raised the alarm.

However, according to police radio logs from the morning of August 7, 1985, officers were talking to an unidentified person in the farmhouse.

The log states that at 5.25am: "Firearms teams are in conversation with a person from inside the farm" and four minutes later: "Challenge to persons inside the house met with no response."

Mr di Stefano, whose clients include M25 road rage killer Kenneth Noye and ex-Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, said: "The original trial was based upon the fact Jeremy had committed the killings prior to attending the farm with the police.

"But this evidence shows that there was another person already there when the police arrived. We will see Jeremy out within weeks."

Bamber's adoptive cousin, David Boutflour, from Wix, said last night: "There's always a worry that some people will think the best of everybody and then they work to make a conviction unsafe.

"It would take a miracle to convince me of that evil man's innocence - I'm convinced he's where he belongs," he added.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: "Nothing new has been disclosed. "All this information was made available for the 2002 hearing. That involved a number of appeal points, all of which were overturned.

"We accept that Jeremy Bamber's sole purpose is to find something which will overturn his conviction. If his legal team want to attempt to go to another appeal procedure that is their prerogative."