Lord Lucan, the British aristocrat who disappeared mysteriously 25 years ago, was officially resurrected yesterday when a court denied a report that he had been declared dead.
The London Times quoted a court document which appeared to indicate Lucan died on or after November 8th, 1974, when he vanished after allegedly beating his children's nanny to death.
A spokesman for the High Court probate department in London confirmed that a certificate granting Lucan's executors consent to deal with his estate, valued at £14,079, had been issued.
But the spokesman added: "No official declaration has been made to the effect that Lord Lucan is now officially dead. There has been no `presumption of death'." Cases in which a person missing for a lengthy period is officially presumed dead are rare.
Normally the matter would go before a judge, who has to be convinced that the person is almost certainly dead.
Lord Lucan's official death is "not worth talking about" in Mayo any more, according to a Castlebar councillor and auctioneer, Mr Frank Durkan.
Eight years ago, however, the peer's association with property in the county was very much an issue, when his merchant banker son, Lord Bingham, made moves to recover unpaid ground rents. It was claimed that the rents on Mayo properties, quoted at up to £30,000, had not been paid since Lord Lucan disappeared.
In June 1992 a civil action was taken in Castlebar District Court against the owners of licensed premises for ground rents due over 16 years, amounting to just under £60.
Mr Durkan said yesterday that the figure outstanding now would not be more than £1,000 a year, as many properties had changed hands. The legal agents for Lord Lucan's estate in Mayo could not be contacted yesterday.
His ancestor owned 61,000 acres in Mayo with an annual rental of £100,000 during the Famine.
When Lucan vanished there were reports he had committed suicide, but police files have not been closed on the case that cost nanny Sandra Rivett her life.
Lucan allegedly tried to murder his wife, apparently mistaking the nanny for Lady Lucan, after a family row.
