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I think we might have waited forever for the invoice for Mike Barrett's Amstrad word processor purchase to be produced, so I'm doing it myself (below).
What does it tell us?
Well, it confirms that the purchase of an Amstrad 8256 was made from Dixons in Liverpool on 3 April 1986 with the purchase price being £458.85.
Advertisements at the time tell us that this model was being sold for £399 plus VAT. With VAT at 15% (or £59.85 of £399) this shows us that Mike bought the Amstrad at full price and it was thus a brand new item.
Consequently the claim posted in this forum in August last year (based on information from Mike) that "it was purchased second hand" turns out not to be correct.
The money for the purchase of the word processor supposedly came from Anne's father. Thus, according to Shirley Harrison:
"...Michael had bought himself an Amstrad word processor with money lent by Anne’s father, Billy Graham..."
In this respect, it may be noted that Mike Barrett claimed in in his January 1995 affidavit that Anne's father gave him the £50 which he used to purchase the guardbook.
Why did Mike want to pay £400 for a word processor in 1986? My theory is that it was wanted for his new career as a freelance journalist but it should be noted that, according to Inside Story, the word processor was supposed to have been purchased to enable Mike to type up his research notes relating to the Maybrick Diary. Thus:
"He claims to have bought the word processor second-hand to input the notes, Anne showing him how to use the keyboard and correcting his spelling."
While it clearly isn't true that Mike bought the word processor in 1986 for the purpose of typing up his research notes in 1992, it is curious that he claimed that Anne only showed him how to use the word processor in 1992, some six years after its purchase. Was that true or a lie by Mike? If it was a lie, why did he lie? Why did he need to hide the fact that he could use the word processor?
Did he also deliberately mislead researchers in the early days into thinking it was only bought to type up his research notes? If so, why? For what reason did he want to cover up the fact that he had owned a word processor for years?
What does it tell us?
Well, it confirms that the purchase of an Amstrad 8256 was made from Dixons in Liverpool on 3 April 1986 with the purchase price being £458.85.
Advertisements at the time tell us that this model was being sold for £399 plus VAT. With VAT at 15% (or £59.85 of £399) this shows us that Mike bought the Amstrad at full price and it was thus a brand new item.
Consequently the claim posted in this forum in August last year (based on information from Mike) that "it was purchased second hand" turns out not to be correct.
The money for the purchase of the word processor supposedly came from Anne's father. Thus, according to Shirley Harrison:
"...Michael had bought himself an Amstrad word processor with money lent by Anne’s father, Billy Graham..."
In this respect, it may be noted that Mike Barrett claimed in in his January 1995 affidavit that Anne's father gave him the £50 which he used to purchase the guardbook.
Why did Mike want to pay £400 for a word processor in 1986? My theory is that it was wanted for his new career as a freelance journalist but it should be noted that, according to Inside Story, the word processor was supposed to have been purchased to enable Mike to type up his research notes relating to the Maybrick Diary. Thus:
"He claims to have bought the word processor second-hand to input the notes, Anne showing him how to use the keyboard and correcting his spelling."
While it clearly isn't true that Mike bought the word processor in 1986 for the purpose of typing up his research notes in 1992, it is curious that he claimed that Anne only showed him how to use the word processor in 1992, some six years after its purchase. Was that true or a lie by Mike? If it was a lie, why did he lie? Why did he need to hide the fact that he could use the word processor?
Did he also deliberately mislead researchers in the early days into thinking it was only bought to type up his research notes? If so, why? For what reason did he want to cover up the fact that he had owned a word processor for years?
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