50 years since Lord Lucan named 'murderer', victim's son insists he's Down Under

In a historic verdict Lord Lucan was named by an inquest jury as the man who murdered family nanny Sandra Rivett exactly 50 years ago - Sandra's son is still fighting for justice and insists Lucan is still alive and living in Australia
Exactly 50 years ago one of the most dramatic British court verdicts in history came when a jury foreman uttered the words: "Murder by Lord Lucan." It was the very last time an inquest jury ever named a killer. The jury identified Lucan as the man who murdered the family nanny Sandra Rivett in a case that gripped the world.
The law was quickly changed and no-one has ever been named as a killer at an inquest since. Westminster Coroner's Court had just heard the inquest into Sandra who was found bludgeoned to death. Sandra's son Neil Berriman has carried out extensive research into the inquest.
He has spent years investigating the case and insists that Lucan is still alive living in Australia. He is hoping the 50th anniversary will focus attention again on the case. He said: "It's now 50 years since an inquest jury found Lord Lucan guilty of the murder of my mother. It was such an historic verdict.
" I believe Lucan is still alive and living in Australia. Why don't the police interview this man? The world's leading expert on facial recognition said it was certain that this old man is the same person as the old photos of Lord Lucan. It was a match. Two other facial recognition companies have come to the same conclusion."
Berriman, a building contractor from Milland, west Sussex was featured in a three part BBC documentary last year. It focused on his battle to prove that an elderly man living in Queensland is Lucan. He said: "It's so frustrating that this is still going on all these years later.
"I promise you I will get justice for Sandra. I will never stop fighting for her until my last breath on this earth. This is such an establishment stitch up. They've covered this up from the start."
Back in November 1974 Sandra was killed in Belgravia, London. Lucan fled and was never seen again. Police believe he threw himself off a cross channel ferry but no body was ever found.
The inquest was held the following year and this is how the Daily Mirror reported the inquest: "Jury foreman William Thomas was asked if they had reached a decision.
"He replied, 'Yes. Verdict, murder by Lord Lucan'. Coroner, Dr Gavin Thurston said: 'I will record that Sandra Helena Rivett died from head injuries. The offence was committed by Richard John Bingham, Earl of Lucan. The coroner added, it is very rare for a Coroner's Court that a person is named as you have done.
"It is my duty to commit that person to trial at the central Criminal Court. But he added, in this case, there is nobody I can commit for trial because we don't know where Lord Lucan is. There is no doubt that if he turns up, he will be charged with the offence. I will keep this on my file until such time as there are any further developments."
As he read the Mirror's report, Berriman sighed: "Here we are 50 years on and justice still hasn't been served."

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Scottish Sun

an hour ago

• Scottish Sun

Brit caught in Iran's revenge strike in Israel says she was buoyed by her ‘blitz spirit'

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRITISH woman caught in Iran's revenge strikes after the US atom plant attack told how she was buoyed by her 'blitz spirit' yesterday. Nicola Simmonds, 58, was rocked by the biggest ballistic missile to blast Tel Aviv early yesterday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Nicola Simmonds, 58, was rocked by the biggest ballistic missile to blast Tel Aviv Credit: Doug Seeburg 5 Israeli emergency teams work at the site of an Iranian missile strike on a residential building complex in Tel Aviv Credit: EPA 5 Israeli emergency teams arrive at the scene and launch search and rescue operations Credit: Getty The tour guide told how fellow shelter dwellers gasped in terror as the explosion wrecked a low rise housing block and sent a blast of air through her bunker. Nicola - who grew up in Mill Hill, North London but now lives in the Ramat Aviv suburb 10 miles north of the city centre - said: 'I've heard blast before in recent days but nothing like this. 'There was an enormous boom followed by a rush of air and we knew this was big and very close. 'But I'm British and my grandfather was a volunteer ambulance driver in the London blitz - so I strangely didn't feel as afraid as everyone else. 'It was against all advice but I, kind of, crawled out of my hole and found myself heading straight for the site of the explosion. 'It's strange but it really did feel like the blitz - what my grandfather had braved in London, I was now experiencing in Tel Aviv.' A five storey block 600 metres from Nicola's home was devastated at 8am yesterday by an enormous Iranian missile strike. Bedding, clothes and belongings hung from the blown out shell of a block with other buildings blackened, cars wrecked and glass and debris strewn across the neighbourhood. The Sun's team took cover in a hotel shelter at 7.30am yesterday when sirens and alerts signalled the first revenge attack after Operation Midnight Hammer. Walls of our shelter in the city centre hotel shook violently as a series of explosions ripped through the air above. Wounded Iran immediately lashes out at Israel launching volleys of ballistic missiles causing 'large-scale destruction' Ramat Aviv took the biggest hit of the attack in the bustling coastal city as families across the country cowered bomb shelters. Gran-of-three Shevi Lahav - an 84-year-old holocaust survivor - told The Sun: 'I live on the fourth floor of a nine story block but don't know if I have a home to go back to now. 'I fled from the Nazis in Russian for two years in World War II and it's hard to believe I'm being attacked again. 'I was in the shelter but god knows what would have happened to me if I hadn't reached the shelter. 'But we won't give in - we didn't give in then and we won't give in now.' 5 Tel Aviv residents shelter in a hotel bunker as Iranian missiles hit the Israeli city Credit: Doug Seeburg

Rhyl Journal

4 hours ago

• Rhyl Journal

‘Syd' Lawrence: England trailblazer who rocked and rumbled for Gloucestershire

Racially abused by a team-mate as a teenager, Lawrence had the last laugh by, in his own words, 'rocking and rumbling' for Gloucestershire and becoming the first British-born black man to play for England before being cut down in his prime. Lawrence refused to feel sorry for himself and that much was evident when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year, raising money and spreading awareness of the condition which robbed him of his voice and ability to walk before his death, aged 61. Affectionately known as Syd after the British bandleader, Lawrence was born on January 28, 1964, in Gloucester to Jamaican parents, inheriting his love for cricket from his father. He was only 17 when he opened the bowling for Gloucestershire alongside a famous Jamaican in Courtney Walsh although memories of his debut season are soured by a banana being left outside the door of his hotel room by an unnamed peer. 'I just sat in that room thinking: 'I'm a cricketer, what makes me different?'' Lawrence reflected to the Guardian years later. 'Why would somebody want to do that, just because of the colour of my skin?' While he received an unreserved apology from Gloucestershire in 2021, Lawrence initially had to shrug off the incident for fear of being perceived as difficult and he instead channelled any frustration by becoming one of the speediest, if occasionally wayward, operators on the county circuit. A strapping fast bowler, he took 625 wickets in 280 games for Gloucestershire but is just as remembered for his England outings, starting against Sri Lanka in 1988, where he claimed three dismissals. Lawrence waited another three years for his next appearance, claiming 14 wickets in three Tests in 1991, the highlight being a five-for against the West Indies to help England seal a series-levelling win at the Oval, with Desmond Haynes and Viv Richards among his haul. He also made his lone ODI appearance in the same summer but Lawrence's career was halted in its tracks the following year as he badly fractured his left kneecap after falling awkwardly when running into bowl on the final day of a Test against New Zealand in Wellington. His England days were immediately over aged 28 following 18 wickets in five Tests but he made a brief county comeback in 1997, playing four first-class games for Gloucestershire before hanging up his boots – 16 years after he first played professionally. Lawrence became a competitive bodybuilder following his retirement and he was also a nightclub owner in Bristol. He was back in the public eye after detailing his racism experiences in his playing days, before in April 2022 he became Gloucestershire's first black president. Gloucestershire Cricket is devastated to learn of the passing of former player and Club President, David 'Syd' Lawrence MBE, aged 61. Everyone at Gloucestershire Cricket would like to send their best wishes to David's family during this terribly sad time. — Gloucestershire Cricket 🏆 (@Gloscricket) June 22, 2025 Following his MND diagnosis and with Lawrence already confined to a custom-made wheelchair, he was presented with the T20 Blast trophy by James Bracey last September in emotionally charged scenes after Gloucestershire ended a nine-year wait for silverware. Lawrence dictated his own recently-released autobiography, while he received an MBE earlier this month in the King's Birthday Honours for his outstanding services to cricket. 'It is an incredibly proud moment,' he said. 'It is not something that I ever thought would sit after my name, but I am absolutely delighted that it will do so for however long I am here and will be a part of my legacy when I am gone.' Lawrence is survived by wife Gaynor and son Buster, an ex-professional rugby union player.

Times

5 hours ago

• Times

Briton arrested after Disneyland Paris ‘mock wedding' with girl, 9

A British man was arrested on Sunday after an alleged attempt to stage a mock wedding with a nine-year-old girl before a crowd of 100 guests at Disneyland Paris. The man, 22, was allegedly the 'groom' at a bizarre staged ceremony at dawn on Saturday in front of the Sleeping Beauty castle in the theme park 20 miles east of Paris. The aim was to make a video for social media, he told police. Disney staff intervened to halt the action and called police when they spotted the girl, a nine-year-old Ukrainian, in a bridal dress. The organisers had booked the park — which is available to rent outside public visiting hours — for a function that they said would be a genuine wedding ceremony. The 'guests' were recruited online through adverts seeking 200 adults and 100 children aged between five and 15 to play the guests at a 'rehearsal' for a wedding at Disneyland. Video obtained by BFM TV showed about 100 seated guests awaiting the ceremony as a female violin trio played at dawn before a stage strewn with flowers. The event had cost the organiser €130,000, BFM said. Alexandre Verney, assistant prosecutor for the Seine-et-Marne département, said: 'Four people were arrested and questioned: the groom, who was believed to be the organiser of the event and is presumed to be British and aged 22; the mother of the child, a 41-year-old Ukrainian woman; and two Latvian nationals aged 55 and 24. 'It wasn't a wedding but a staged wedding that was to be filmed with a hundred extras. They privatised Disneyland, claiming that it was a real marriage.' The mother and the older Latvian were released after a medical examination of the girl showed no mistreatment or constraint. The Briton and the other Latvian were held for questioning over possible money laundering and fraud offences, the prosecutor's office said. Disney thanked its staff for their action in halting the event. A witness told Le Parisien: 'We were not told at any time that it was about a film shoot. We all thought we were going to part of a wedding. Everyone was stunned. No one expected this. Disneyland does things very well. They immediately cancelled when they understood that the bride was a kid. We were sickened by that.' The extras said they had been driven from central Paris on buses at 5am and given pink bracelets with the names of the 'bride and groom' printed on them. One of the extras, named Yeleen, who went to the ceremony with her daughter, said: 'I saw a little girl dressed in white. I saw her hair prepared with curls and a lady picking her up in her arms. At that moment, I was shocked. I realised when I saw the child. It was atrocious.'