The Mail has obtained a sensational, never-before-seen Scotland Yard report from almost 50 years ago that finally reveals the definitive account of the Lord Lucan mystery.
Is Lord Lucan innocent or guilty? YOU decide in The Mail's brand new podcast:. Listen now and find out how YOU can get involved on
Podcast All episodes Play on Apple Spotify It has been almost 50 years since British aristocrat Lord Lucan, 39, vanished without a traceThe Trial of Lord Lucan: follow The Mail's brand new podcast wherever you get your podcasts Over the years there have been fanciful claims he spent his last days as an ageing hippy called Jungly Barry in Goa, that he lived in an old Land Rover with a pet possum in New Zealand, and more recently it was suggested he was living as a Buddhist in Australia. It has even been claimed he was fed to a tiger.
Titled 'Regina v the VII Earl of Lucan', the report was written by Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in March 1975, in preparation for a murder trial that ultimately never happened because the peer - described as a 'typical Edwardian aristocrat both in manner and dress' - was never found.Richard John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, was not your archetypal murder suspect.
The Rivett murder - at the Lucan family's home in central London – came to light after Lady Lucan ran to the local pub, the Plumbers Arms, collapsed on the floor and screamed: 'He's murdered the nanny and he's after the children.' Mrs Rivett's body was found in a canvas US mailbag in the basement of the five-storey house at 146 Lower Belgrave Street.
In the five decades since, there have been dozens of supposed sightings of him in various locations in the UK and around the world - all documented in statement form and followed up by the Met. Yet Lucan has never been found and still remains wanted for murder. Barrister Max Hardy, who is acting as 'prosecutor' in our mock trial, said of the Scotland Yard report: 'It enables the reader to understand to a very, very significant extent what the case against Lucan was and what it would have been had he been put on trial.Edward Henry KC, who is 'defending' Lucan in the Mail's podcast series, added: 'It is a magnificent piece of police analysis and prose.'As a historical document, it is truly fascinating.
In his report, DCS Ranson wrote: 'No difficulty has been experienced when dealing with witnesses connected with Sandra Rivett. However, the same cannot be said for other persons encountered who, in the main, are members of the International Socialite Set and friends or acquaintances of Lord and Lady Lucan ... not outwardly obstructive, they have been reluctant to assist police.'
The senior officer details the evidence supporting 'the theory of premeditation' in the case. 'There is no doubt that there was a certain hatred between the couple, whereby Lord Lucan had a fixation his children were not being brought up according to his wishes, by a woman who, although a Countess by marriage, was not a member of the aristocracy.'
Lucan was declared legally dead in 1999. In 2016, a death certificate was issued allowing his titles to be inherited by his son George. If still alive, he would be 89 years old.Lucan's son George, the 8th Earl of Lucan, has declined to comment. Follow the highs and lows of the case in forensic detail in the podcast, and then on Friday 7 we'll ask YOU to act as a jury here on Mail Online in a fascinating public vote.Listen to the podcast everywhere you usually get your podcasts.Detective Chief Superintendent Roy Ranson, who led the Lucan investigation
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