Thread: Lord Lucan is dead!(It's official)

Lord Lucan's Son Granted Death Certificate

George Bingham can now become the 8th Lord Lucan, 42 years after his father vanished following the killing of his nanny.

The only son of missing peer Lord Lucan has been granted a death certificate, 42 years after his father disappeared following the murder of his nanny.

George Bingham, who was seven at the time, applied under the Presumption of Death Act, which came into effect in 2014, so he can inherit the title as 8th Earl.

Speaking outside the High Court in London, Lord Bingham said he would be adopting the title immediately.

Lord Lucan vanished after Sandra Rivett, the nanny for his three children, was found murdered at the family home at 46 Lower Belgrade Street in central London on 7 November 1974.

An inquest decided that Lord Lucan killed Ms Rivett after mistaking her for his estranged wife Lady Lucan, with whom he was engaged in a custody battle.



Ms Rivett's killer also attacked Lady Lucan - Lord Bingham's mother - in the incident, who was badly beaten before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a nearby pub.

Lord Lucan was last seen shortly afterwards at a friend's house in Uckfield, East Sussex. His car was later found abandoned and soaked in blood in Newhaven, around 20 miles away.

He was never seen again and a body has never been found.

The High Court declared Lord Lucan dead in 1999, so that his will could be activated.

But the law at the time did not allow a death certificate to be issued, preventing his son from inheriting his father's title.

Now High Court judge Mrs Justice Asplin has granted Lord Bingham the document, on the basis she was satisfied Lord Lucan had not been known to be alive for at least seven years.

Even though Lord Lucan was officially declared dead more than 15 years ago, there have been reported sightings in Australia, Ireland, Africa and New Zealand.

As well as the purported sightings, there have been many theories about how he may have died, including that Lord Lucan shot himself and his body was fed to tigers belonging to his friend, the late zoo owner John Aspinall.

The application was made to the High Court on behalf of Lord Bingham by his brother-in-law, Michael Bloch QC.

He said there had been numerous rumours about Lord Lucan reported in the press, but the Metropolitan Police had not given credence to any of them.

The judge said none of the missing peer's family members or closest friends had seen or heard from him, or had reason to believe he was alive.

Despite this, Ms Rivett's son Neil Berriman said he was sure Lord Lucan was "guilty of something" and that he believed the peer escaped in the aftermath of his mother's killing.

"I personally, along with other people I worked with on this case, know that the convenient drowning, shooting that night, of Lord Lucan is not true," Mr Berriman claimed outside court.

"I believe there is a Metropolitan Police internal document that states Lucan was possibly alive in 2002 onwards.

"This document also confirms the blood contamination - which I am grateful for George Bingham's statement, he has made.

"What we have here - and I would like to take the time to express my feelings - is various people withholding evidence and not telling the truth."

Lord Bingham expressed his sympathy for Mr Berriman and his family, describing Ms Rivett as a "lovely lady".

"Our family has no idea how our own father, my father, met his own end and whether he did so at his own hand or the hand of others on that fateful evening. It is a mystery, and it may well remain that way forever," he said.

"I would ask, with a very quiet voice, for everyone to consider a person did die here in terrible circumstances, and a family lost a father.

"We, none of us, know actually what happened, nor will we ever. And as a British person, I still prefer to consider a person innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."


Lord Lucan's Son Granted Death Certificate

First thing he did was ring his Dad to pass on the good news

Lord Lucan's body was fed to a tiger after he shot himself, a member of the missing peer's gambling set has claimed, the latest twist in the decades-old mystery surrounding the fate of the aristocrat.

Lord Lucan 'shot himself and was fed to a tiger in zoo' - Telegraph

I wonder if the tiger said "Heeee's GGGRRRRRRRRRRREAT!".