I want to meet Lucan’s son to show him why I believe his dad is alive
Justice fight of victim’s son
THE son of the nanny killed by Lord Lucan wants to meet the missing peer’s family to show him evidence that claims he is alive in Australia.
Neil Berriman will this week contact the aristocrat’s son George Bingham for face-to-face talks over the infamous murder and disappearance in 1974.
Two facial recognition technique experts have insisted that photographic evidence showing an elderly man in Australia is a “match” for pictures of Lucan before he vanished aged 39.
However, another specialist has disputed it is the peer, who bludgeoned to death nanny Sandra Rivett, 29, at his home in Belgravia, Central London.
Until now Mr Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan, has always declined to discuss the new developments.
Mr Berriman said the peer must be delighted at the possibility his dad, also known as John Bingham, is still alive.
However, he added: “But this could cause him some issues legally perhaps as Lord Lucan was confirmed dead a few years back.” Lucan, a banker and gambler, was declared dead in 1999 and a death certificate was granted in 2016.
Mr Berriman has contacted Scotland Yard for an update on the investigation.
Last month, the Mirror reported how Prof Hassan Ugail, from the University of Bradford, ran a series of photographs through his algorithm and concluded a mystery 87-year-old living near
Brisbane, Queensland, was a definite “match” to pictures of Lucan.
Mr Berriman said: “Professor Ugail is so respected in his field.
“Scotland Yard must have carried out their own analysis by now.”
He also wants police to re-examine the circumstances surrounding a stash of six handwritten letters found hidden under floorboards of Lucan’s old home after the death of his wife in 2017. It is not known what was contained in the notes but they were given to the owner of the property and not police.
Following the murder, Lucan’s friends claimed he committed suicide by throwing himself off a Channel ferry – but his body was never found.
Mr Berriman, from Milland, West Sussex, discovered he was the son of Ms Rivett 10 years ago.
She gave him up for adoption when he was a baby.
The Met claimed Australian officers had probed the identity of the mystery pensioner and ruled out he was Lucan.
A spokesman said: “Following extensive inquiries and investigations by the Australian Federal Police on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, the person was conclusively eliminated from the investigation.”
When we asked the Australian Federal Police what action it had taken to investigate the 87-year-old, it replied: “The AFP does not comment on policeto-police intelligence sharing, or confirm who it is investigating.”
This could cause him some issues legally perhaps
NEIL BERRIMAN ON GEORGE BINGHAM
Following inquiries the person was eliminated from probe
MET POLICE ON THE OAP LIVING IN AUSTRALIA