Did Michael Barrymore cover up the death of man found floating in his pool to hide gay orgy?
Michael Barrymore, once a beloved British entertainer, was left to rebuild his career after he was accused of covering up the case of a young man's body found floating in the pool of his house. On March 31, 2001, Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found unconscious at the comedian's property in Roydon, Essex. Barrymore had come out as a gay man in 1995. After news of the body at Barrymore's house hit the headlines, media reports started claiming that the victim, who was just wearing his underwear when he was found by the police, was a participant of a gay orgy that took place at Barrymore's house that day.
"There was no sex that night. There was no orgy that I was aware of at all. I just hope that they understand it was just another night that went terribly wrong," Barrymore vehemently said during an interview at the time.
With Lubbock's death still remaining unsolved nearly two decades later, Barrymore, now 67, appeared on 'Good Morning Britain' to reiterate his innocence, claiming that the allegations were just a smear campaign by Lubbock's father, Terry, for gaining publicity.
"The first time I met him I said, 'You know I don’t have anything to do with this'. He said, 'I know'. So I said, 'Why are you pointing the finger at me?' I say, 'Why do you keep having a go at me when we part and pointing fingers,'" he said, Mirror reported. "And everyone else is joining in. A nudge and innuendo. It doesn’t matter how bad it is for me it won’t be as bad as Mr. Lubbock and his family. Why would I hide and kept anything and put myself through this pain and agony every time this comes up."
Channel 4's new crime documentary 'Barrymore: Body In The Pool' examines the events of that night and explores the allegations against Barrymore of having covered up a possible crime. The Essex Police have investigated the death of Lubbock twice over the years and never came up with a conclusion regarding the cause of death.
As a result, criminal charges were never brought against Barrymore or any of the eight guests present at the party that day.
At the initial inquest into Lubbock's death, Barrymore denied rubbing cocaine on Lubbock's gums, despite traces of drugs found in the victim's system and two of the party guests testifying that they saw him doing so. He also claimed that the reason he did not dive into the pool to save the victim himself was that he did not know how to swim. However, on being questioned, neighbors told police that they had seen Barrymore swimming in the pool on previous occasions.
Perhaps the most damning fact in the case was the injuries that Lubbock had suffered around his pelvic area, which led multiple forensic pathologists involved in the case to point at the possibility that the victim might have been sexually assaulted prior to his death.
"When I first did my examination, it was apparent there was a lot of blood in the cloth that he was wrapped in. And that was around the pelvic area. And that showed that there was extensive hemorrhage from the region of the anus. There was clear dilatation of the anal canal. There were clear injuries around the anus... abrasions... bruising... tearing of the anal wall," Dr. Michael Heath, one of the forensic pathologists says in the documentary.
He adds: "I would describe the injuries to the anus as horrific."
Barrymore remained adamant that the injuries did not occur at his house and insisted they were inflicted after Lubbock's body was removed from the pool and taken to the hospital for post-mortem. The Essex police were forced to launch a separate investigation into his claims. Authorities eventually found that his claims were baseless.
The Essex police finally issued a formal apology to Lubbock's family stating that they had bungled up the investigation by not properly taking note of the evidence found at the crime scene. They also reportedly let people like Barrymore's personal assistant, Michael Brown, back onto the crime scene after it had been secured by investigators.
He was "wrongfully allowed back into the scene where he seemed to be tidying up some items," said Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jenning.
He also admitted that a number of items went missing after they had photographed the scene. "Stuart was assaulted quite possibly in the jacuzzi (which was near the pool area) and then either died in the jacuzzi or went unconscious and then to make it look like a drowning, thrown in the swimming pool," he added.
"I believe very much that Stuart Lubbock was raped and murdered that night," he said.
'Barrymore: Body In The Pool' comes out on March 31.