One of the most dramatic pieces of courtroom theatre I ever saw

RESPECTED author and journalist Bob Strange was in the court that day exactly 50 years ago. Here he recalls what happened...

- EXCLUSIVE BY ANDY LINES

The courtroom was silent as the jury foreman stood to give the verdict. There was a gasp from everyone when Lord Lucan was named as the killer.

The coroner struggled to restore order as Lucan's friends protested that he was not a murderer, and reporters scrambled for the exit to file the story.

I spoke to Lucan's mother outside the court. She told me: "It's unjust... the jury heard only one side of the story. John [Lucan] never had the chance to tell them what really happened so how could they come to such a one-sided verdict?"