Muriel McKay’s daughter claims she is ‘not allowed’ to attend dig

Muriel McKay’s daughter Dianne has claimed she is ‘not allowed’ to attend the dig for her mother’s remains after she complained about a previous investigation.

Dianne McKay claimed she was ‘not allowed’ at the dig site today after she submitted a complaint about the 2022 search, alleging DCI Mark Cranwell had been ‘disrespectful’ towards her and had not kept her informed about developments.

Also expressing her frustration at what some members of the family claim was the lack of progress by investigating officers, she said: ‘We see them trying but [we’re] not too happy that we got all the answers they never did.

‘I’m not allowed there. Mark [Dianne’s son] is invited and will take my brother who’s come over from Australia.’

Mark Dyer added that after meeting with him and Ian McKay at the dig site today, DCI Cranwell had made it ‘blatantly clear’ that his mother was banned from going anywhere near the site where she believes her own mother to be buried.

‘There is no reason for this treatment and disrespect and this cannot be tolerated,’ he said.

‘We are making an urgent complaint to senior commanders in the Metropolitan Police. My uncle Ian was also told in no uncertain terms of his sister that, should she turn up at the farm, the search would be called off immediately.’

The Met were contacted for comment.

It comes after the family described themselves as ‘apprehensive’ today as they joined police at the dig for her body at the farm, more than half a century after she was last seen.

They also criticised police for not allowing one of the men convicted of kidnapping and murdering her from being allowed on the site to help with the search.

Mrs McKay was 55 when she was kidnapped from her home in Wimbledon, south west London, in December 1969 by brothers Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein in the mistaken belief she was the wife of Rupert Murdoch.

She was actually married to the media tycoon’s right-hand man, Alick McKay.

Her abductors took her to Stocking Farm in Stocking Pelham, Hertfordshire – then known as Rook’s Farm and where Arthur was living – and demanded £1 million. But attempts to hand over some money failed and she was never seen again.

The brothers were later jailed for life for blackmail, kidnap and murder following a trial at the Old Bailey which made UK legal history as the first conviction of its kind without the victim’s body.

A search of the farm took place at the time and another in 2022, although neither elicited any evidence of Mrs McKay’s remains.

Nizamodeen, 75, has since provided fresh information after being contacted by his victim’s daughter, Dianne, 84, and her son Mark Dyer, 59, leading to the excavation of a site this week.

Mark arrived at the farm yesterday with Dianne’s brother Ian, 82, who described it as a ‘place of horror’ and revealed he was ‘apprehensive’ about the visit and had deliberately ‘stayed away’ from the site previously.

Asked if he was prepared for the possibility of his mother finally being found, he told the Mail: ‘I will have to tell you at the end of the day.’

Ian, who travelled from his home in Australia, also expressed anger that detectives had not allowed Nizamodeen to fly in from his native Trinidad to aid the five-day joint operation between Hertfordshire Constabulary and the Metropolitan Police.

‘It seems to me a nonsense that Nizam is not here,’ he said.

‘The fact he’s a convicted criminal is hard for us to swallow but he has served his sentence. Why would you not have the man who has now admitted to burying her here to help find her?’

Mr Dyer, whose mother may fly in from her home in Majorca later this week, agreed, saying: ‘What he did was disgusting but we need him here. Not having him for the ‘grand finale’ is bonkers.’

Speaking to The Sun, her son said: ‘I don’t know how I feel. It has been a place of evil and terror for me.

‘The reason I have not been to England for so long is because I have these feelings that are of horror.

‘I feel it is a day of apprehension for us.’

Alick McKay died in 1983 without ever having closure. Before his death, he said: ‘All I want to know is where my wife has been buried so that I can go and place some flowers.’

Arthur Hosein died while serving time but his brother was eventually freed and deported to Trinidad, where he handed over new details to Dianne and Mark when they flew there in January.

He claimed mother-of-three Mrs McKay was given powerful sedatives and died from a heart attack after watching a television appeal from her family.

Crucially, he also said she was buried in her coat in a 5ft-deep hole dug at a dung heap before shovelling soil and grass on top of her.

The last search of the farm was near the spot but police have revealed they didn’t realise how large the dung heap had been.

Photos released yesterday showed a small digger excavating several feet down inside a barn which covers part of the spot indicated by Nizamodeen.

Gloved officers then moved in and carefully cleared away more dirt with trowels that was taken away in wheelbarrows by colleagues. Around 20 specialist officers are involved.

An area outside the barn will also be examined.

Police have said they remain concerned about inconsistencies in Nizamodeen’s account but agreed to look in a limited search area. They expect to remain until Friday but could stay longer if they believe it is warranted.

Met Police Commander Steve Clayman said before the latest search: ‘Other areas have been highlighted as being of potential interest and it is these that we will search.

‘The main area is where a manure heap once stood – we know now this was larger than we previously thought and therefore that area was not entirely searched in 2022.

‘While we do have concerns about inconsistencies in the account by Nizamodeen Hosein, for completeness we want to do this.’

However, the family have been told that this will be the last attempt to find Mrs McKay as ‘it would not be proportionate to carry out any further searches or investigations’.

Blue tents have been set up at spots around the farm and a large number of police vehicles are present.

A public footpath through the 12-acre site has been closed off.