Neil Berriman, the son of Sandra Rivett, the nanny murdered by Lord Lucan in 1974, has written an emotional letter to the Metropolitan Police on the 52nd anniversary of her death, pleading with them to step up their investigation.
In the letter, seen by the Mirror, Mr Berriman urged Scotland Yard to reanalyse the facial recognition evidence he has provided. He accused the force of hypocrisy for using facial recognition technology in many other cases but not in the murder of Sandra Rivett on November 7, 1974.
Mr Berriman has also sent the letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. He is convinced that an elderly man living in Australia is Lucan. If alive, Lucan would be 91. One of the world's top facial recognition experts has insisted that the man's photo is an exact match for Lucan.
Plea to Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
In the letter, Mr Berriman says: "My mother deserves better. Her memory deserves better. And the public deserves to know that justice does not have an expiry date. She was a human being whose life was violently taken. She deserves justice. I am increasingly frustrated by what appears to be a glaring inconsistency between the Metropolitan Police's public enthusiasm for facial recognition technology and its refusal to accept new forensic findings that directly challenge its own position in the Lord Lucan investigation."
He told Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley: "Your force actively promotes facial recognition technology as an effective means of identifying suspects, locating wanted individuals and advancing criminal investigations. I fully recognise that facial recognition technology is not infallible. I understand that independently commissioned reports must be subject to professional scrutiny and that any identification requires appropriate verification and corroborating evidence. The Metropolitan Police routinely uses modern technology to identify individuals and develop investigative leads. Across London, your force publicly champions facial recognition as an important tool in modern policing. Yet here we have independently commissioned analysis which, according to its findings, challenges the identity of a person relevant to a historic murder investigation."
Frustration Over Lack of Progress
He went on: "A young woman was murdered. Three children lost their nanny. And a son has spent years fighting to establish what happened to his mother. My mother should never have become a footnote in somebody else's story. The passage of 52 years does not make her life any less valuable. Nor should it make potentially significant new forensic evidence any less worthy of professional consideration. The Metropolitan Police frequently speaks of rebuilding public trust, maintaining the highest investigative standards and putting victims at the heart of policing. I am asking you to demonstrate those commitments in this case."
Lucan murdered the family's nanny in Belgravia, London. He fled the scene and was never seen again. He was declared dead by a court in 2016. Police believe he committed suicide by throwing himself off a cross channel ferry. But many believe he was successfully helped to escape and then created a new life abroad.
Ongoing Quest for Justice
Berriman, a building contractor from Milland, West Sussex, was featured in a three-part BBC documentary two years ago. He has set up a website for his search for justice called LordLucanthetruth.com. 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."
