Lord Lucan victim's son says peer is alive in Australia and begs police to act

The son of the nanny murdered by Lord Lucan has hit out at police for failing to arrest a man he claims is the missing peer, and says he fears his suspect will die before being questioned.

Neil Berriman, who this month visited his mother Sandra Rivett’s grave to mark the 46th anniversary of her death on November 7, 1974, has described parts of the new police inquiry as a “farce”.

In January, he gave police “evidence” that Lucan, who would now be 85, was alive and living in a Buddhist commune in Australia.

Emails sent last month show the Metropolitan Police’s cold case unit is investigating Mr Berriman’s claim.

He says the mystery Englishman is now seriously ill, and fears the man will die before facing justice.

Mr Berriman said: “Why is this taking so long? I’m so horrendously frustrated and disappointed.

"This man is unwell and I want him brought to justice before he dies.

“It’s kept me up at night the thought he could die without the Australian police knocking on his door. No one I know can understand why the police have not knocked on his door and interviewed him.

“They have credible evidence that this man is one of the most notorious killers in history.

“What everyone wants is for him to die. The authorities want him to die so that this ‘problem’ – as they see it – just goes away.

“I want justice for Sandra. I am the son of a murder victim and I want justice as well.

"The establishment have closed ranks on this. I’m a massive thorn in their side. They didn’t want him to be found.”

The police have several pictures and videos of the man Mr Berriman believes is Lucan, who disappeared after Sandra was killed at his mews home in Belgravia, Central London.

Lucan had run up huge gambling debts, his marriage to Lady Veronica Lucan had collapsed and the couple were battling for custody of their three children. Police think he attacked Sandra with a lead pipe after mistaking her for his wife.

There were rumours he had committed suicide by throwing himself off a cross-Channel ferry from Newhaven days later.

But no body was ever washed up and it has long been suspected that powerful friends helped him escape to avoid a lengthy prison sentence.

Mr Berriman, 52, a building contractor and father-of-two from Milland, West Sussex, discovered 12 years ago that he was Sandra’s secret son and had been adopted soon after he was born.