Wife admits earl's disappearance

The Earl has not contacted family or friends since 5 November

The third wife of the missing Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, has admitted to French police that she played a part in his disappearance.

Djamilia M'Barek, 37, was arrested in the resort town of Cannes on Friday on suspicion of his murder.

However, Philippe Soussi, a lawyer for the peer's family, said on Monday she had not admitted murder.

Her brother Mohammed M'Barek, 40, was also arrested as part of the inquiry and is to be quizzed by French police.

This has been a murder investigation for some time, but to know he has been killed is a different thing all together Lawyer Philippe Soussi Profile: Earl of Shaftesbury

The 66-year-old earl disappeared from Cannes in November last year, only days before he was due to return to the UK.

Police said in December they were treating his disappearance as murder. His body has not been found.

The earl was estranged from Ms M'Barek, whom he is understood to have married in 2002, at the time of his disappearance.

Ms M'Barek appeared before a judge in Grasse on Saturday and was placed under investigation for murder.

The earl has not been seen since leaving this Cannes hotel

Her brother is expected to appear before a judge in the town later this week.

The earl's lawyer said on Monday the family were grief-stricken and had taken the latest developments "very badly".

Mr Soussi said: "This has been a murder investigation for some time, but to know he has been killed is a different thing all together.

"The earl was a likeable and generous man but he was weak and fragile and it is this weakness that has been taken advantage of, to the point of murder."

Senior detectives from Sussex Police flew to Nice a few days after the disappearance of the earl, who has homes in Hove and London as well as the south of France, to assist French police.

Lady Shaftesbury, the earl's ex-wife, lives at the family estate in Wimborne St Giles, Dorset. She is the mother of his two sons, Anthony and Nicholas.