Lord Lucan bludgeoned my girlfriend to death – I’m haunted by my fateful decision that night… it feels like I killed her

IT was 1 of the astir celebrated execution cases successful British history, dominating headlines astir the world.

Notorious gambler Lord Lucan bludgeoned his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett, to decease astatine his prestigious location successful Belgravia, connected November 7, 1974, earlier fleeing the scene and disappearing from the look of the Earth.

Now, 50 years aboriginal and speaking for the archetypal time, the antheral closest to Sandra, her fellow John Hankins, reveals helium has been surviving with guilt implicit her brutal execution ever since.

John Hankins - who features successful the three-part BBC2 documentary Lucan, which airs 9pm contiguous - was the past idiosyncratic Sandra spoke to connected that fateful night.

The mates should person met that evening but John, a pub manager, was asked to enactment and persuaded Sandra to swap her displacement meaning, tragically, she was astatine the Belgravia location erstwhile the rampaging Lucan arrived.  

“Sometimes I consciousness similar I’m the 1 who really killed her,” helium says.

John and Sandra met successful 1974, aft she signed up with a home bureau and took a occupation arsenic a nanny to the children of Lord and Lady Lucan – Frances, ten, George Bingham, seven, and four-year-old Camilla

Sandra had flooded home violence, a breached engagement that near her large astatine 17 and a 2nd kid astatine 21 with a joined man. Her parents brought up her eldest son, Stephen, arsenic their ain and she gave another, who she named Gary, for adoption.

She went connected to wed Roger Rivett but they divorced successful 1974 - soon earlier she took up her post.

Money and matrimony problems

Lucan was a antheral who lived extravagantly, driving an Aston Martin and racing velocity boats.

He was ironically known by his friends astatine the prestigious Clermont Club successful Berkeley Square, founded by his champion friend, John Aspinall, arsenic ‘Lucky Lucan’ due to the fact that of his gambling losses astatine span and backgammon.

Veronica suffered from postnatal slump aft the commencement of their children and successful 1968 Lucan encouraged her to person treatment.

But his progressively controlling behaviour and gambling addiction led to their interruption up successful 1972 - sparking a bitter conflict began for custody of the children. 

Living successful a adjacent property, helium would spy connected her and grounds their telephone conversations successful which, she said, helium tried to provoke her into choler successful an effort to beryllium that she was of unstable mind.

But Lucan mislaid the tribunal case, the children remained with their parent and ineligible expenses on with mounting gambling losses enactment him ever much earnestly into debt.

 In section pub the Plumbers Arms, immoderate 300 yards distant from the Lucan home, Sandra met John, the country manager for the brewery, and they struck up a relationship.

“We were enjoying life,” says John. “Three oregon 4 weeks into the narration she told maine that she had baggage of her own. I learned astir her sons and she explained that she had enactment herself into a installation due to the fact that she was depressed.”

Sandra, 29, and Veronica, 36, grew adjacent arsenic she recovered a affable receptor distant from the progressively heated arguments with her husband. The children liked her too.

 “I deliberation that erstwhile Sandra was successful the location Veronica was capable to header with it better,” says John. “Sandra gave her a consciousness of information and security.”

BBC investigative writer Glen Campbell, who features successful the documentary, tells america that Sandra was a lifeline for Veronica.

He says: “They instantly struck a bond. They would spell retired unneurotic and bask a portion astatine the Plumbers Arms.

"It was a interruption for Veronica from her beingness trapped wrong her location wherever she was receiving ominous, precocious night, dense breathing telephone calls from Lucan and being spied connected by backstage detectives he'd hired.

 “Sandra was amusive loving. She could speech to and recognize radical and get connected their level. So, she was much than conscionable a nanny to Veronica.

"She was astir most apt a therapist and matrimony guidance counsellor wrapped up successful one.”

Fatal displacement change

John and Sandra’s accustomed day nighttime was connected a Thursday and helium would crook up astatine the Lucan location for her where, connected respective occasions, helium met Lord Lucan, 39, who would get to instrumentality the children connected entree visits.

They would often walk the evening astatine his grace and favour level but a power of plan, erstwhile the brewery asked John to enactment astatine 1 of his pubs that Thursday, was to person tragic consequences.

Having switched her nighttime off, Sandra enactment the 2 youngest children to furniture astatine 8.30pm, past went downstairs to marque a cupful of beverage for Lady Lucan.

But erstwhile she did not return, Veronica went to look for her and heard a rustling successful the darkness.

A fig charged retired of the cloakroom and struck her connected the caput respective times with a portion of pb piping.

As Lady Lucan cried out, her attacker told her to “Shut up” and she recognised the dependable arsenic that of her estranged husband.

A combat ensued and ceased lone erstwhile she grabbed him tightly and painfully betwixt his legs. Having calmed down a little, they past walked upstairs.

According to Lady Lucan’s account, she asked him wherever Sandra was and helium admitted to having killed her.

While helium was successful the bath getting a bedewed cloth for Veronica’s injuries, she ran retired of the location to the Plumbers Arms to rise the alarm.

Lucan fled and was ne'er seen again. Sandra’s assemblage was recovered by police, stuffed into a US message container astatine the ft of the stairs, having been killed by blows to the caput apt from the aforesaid pb piping. 

Intended victim?

The execution was mostly thought to beryllium a lawsuit of mistaken individuality and that his intended unfortunate was Veronica.

But Sandra’s lad Neil Berriman - who has been investigating his mother’s execution for decades - thinks this is not the lawsuit and Glen believes determination is immoderate substance to the theory.

“There is grounds that, potentially, Sandra could person been the intended victim,” explains Glen. “She was causing a batch of occupation down the scenes arsenic acold arsenic Lucan was concerned, being precise supportive of Veronica and precise vocal against him and his friends. So, she was not conscionable the babysitter.”

Neil, 57, a softly spoken builder from Hampshire, was adopted astatine commencement and lone discovered that his biologic parent was Sandra Rivett erstwhile helium was 10 aft his mum died of cancer.

He opened an envelope she had kept for him with a paper cutting astir the Lucan case, on with his adoption papers giving his archetypal sanction arsenic Gary Hensby.

Sandra’s maiden sanction was Hensby. 

The jaw-dropping find acceptable him connected a beingness ngo to find Lucan and bring him to justice.

Lucan tip-off

The enigma of the missing Lord has sparked galore chaotic theories - including that helium changeable himself and was fed to tigers astatine John Aspinall’s zoo oregon fled overseas connected a friend’s yacht. 

But successful the documentary Neil and John sensationally face the antheral they judge to beryllium Lord Lucan conscionable extracurricular Brisbane, Australia.

It follows a tip-off from a antheral successful Perth who said helium had met the aristocratic Englishman 22 years ago, posing arsenic a Buddhist monk, who confessed to him that 2 women successful London, “Sandra and Veronica (Lady Lucan),” had karma to beryllium repaid and that helium had killed Sandra.

As improbable arsenic it whitethorn seem, John and Neil are instantly convinced that the antheral successful beforehand of them, who has gone by 5 assorted names passim his life, is really the elusive Richard John Bingham, 7^th Earl of Lucan.

“I looked consecutive astatine this bloke and I knew close away, that’s Lord Lucan,” says Australian-born John, who present lives successful Brisbane and works successful instrumentality enforcement.

Despite the constabulary dismissing claims the antheral is the fugitive Earl, helium intends to get the Australian authorities to afloat analyse him.

Meanwhile, the guilt and choler continues to haunt John Hankins.

“I got her to alteration her displacement truthful Sandra was determination that nighttime erstwhile she should person been location with me,” helium says.

“And, nary substance what radical accidental to me, I can’t forgive myself for thing similar that.

"There’s thing I tin bash astir it. It was my fault. If I hadn’t asked her to alteration her nighttime off… if..if..if..

 “Until you’ve been successful a concern wherever idiosyncratic truly adjacent to you has been murdered, you truly don’t recognize what the feelings of anger, revenge and injustice truly mean.

"Sandra was a precise bully person. It’s important that, determination down the track, she gets justice.”

Lucan airs connected BBC2 from 9pm contiguous and is disposable connected iPlayer