Barrymore pool death: Stuart Lubbock's father says 'truth will come out'

Stuart Lubbock died following a party at TV presenter Michael Barrymore's home near Harlow in March 2001

The ailing father of a man whose body was found in Michael Barrymore's swimming pool 20 years ago said he believed "the truth will come out".

Stuart Lubbock, 31, died after being found unconscious in the TV presenter's pool in Roydon, Essex, in March 2001.

This week, Essex Police said a file would be submitted "imminently" to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Terry Lubbock, who has terminal cancer, said he could rest in peace knowing he had done the best for his son.

Stuart, a butcher from Harlow, was at a party with eight other people at Mr Barrymore's home when he died.

A post-mortem examination showed he suffered severe internal injuries which suggested he had been sexually assaulted.

Michael Barrymore, 69, hosted a gathering at his house and Stuart Lubbock was found unconscious in his swimming pool

A man in his 50s, who has not been named, was arrested in Cheshire in March on suspicion of murder and indecent assault after "significant new information" emerged, police said.

"I have done my best now for my son," said Mr Lubbock, a 76-year-old retired toolmaker.

"I can rest in peace now. I think the truth will come out."

He added: "My body is going down, and my mind, and I am starting to forget things."

Terry Lubbock called for a fresh inquest but was refused an application to the High Court

In February, Mr Lubbock said doctors had told him he had months to live.

He said all he lived for was to get "justice for Stuart", but accepted he may never get the answers he wanted.

In January, he called for a fresh inquest, and said he thought information must now have emerged which justified a fresh inquiry by a coroner.

A coroner recorded an open verdict at an inquest in 2002 and, three years ago, the then-Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, refused to give Mr Lubbock permission to make an application to the High Court for a second inquest.

But Mr Lubbock said a fresh Essex Police appeal, which coincided with the broadcast of a Channel 4 documentary Barrymore: The Body In The Pool in February 2020, had changed the landscape.

'Vile and vicious'

No-one has been charged with any offence in relation to Stuart Lubbock's death.

Mr Barrymore, now 69, was arrested in 2007 but never charged with any offence.

He described the Channel 4 documentary as "vile and vicious" and said nobody who was at his house on the night of Stuart Lubbock's death knew what happened.

Asked if he had anything fresh to offer the police, he replied: "I honestly wish I did."

Essex Police said it would soon pass a file to the CPS regarding the man who was arrested, following a "substantial and detailed investigation".

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