Michael Barrymore knows more than he’s revealed, says father of man found dead in TV presenter’s pool

‘It’s time now, Michael. I think you know more about this than you have said and the focus will be on you’

TV presenter Michael Barrymore should “come clean” about the events that led to a man being found dead in his swimming pool, said the father of the man.

Terry Lubbock, 74, said Barrymore knows “more about this than you have said” and urged him to come forward to “clear your name” or turn himself in.

His son, 31-year-old Stuart Lubbock, was found dead in Barrymore’s former home in Roydon, Essex, on 31 March 2001 after a party with eight other guests.

Essex Police and Crimestoppers offered a £20,000 reward for information, hoping the reward and an upcoming documentary will generate new leads after 19 years.

Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings told reporters at a press conference in Chelmsford, alongside Mr Lubbock: “I believe that he was raped and murdered that night… One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault on Stuart Lubbock.

“We want the people who do have information to come forward and talk to us – 19 years is a long time, loyalties change and it is never too late to do the right thing.

“Some people also arrived at the scene after Stuart’s death. They may hold the key information and we would like to hear from them.”

The three people who were arrested in connection with the death, including Barrymore, have not been “completely eliminated” from inquiries, said Mr Jennings.

Five other people are still being treated as witnesses. Mr Jennings admitted mistakes had been made with the initial investigation, in which items possibly used in the attack – including a pool thermometer and a door handle – disappeared.

But he is confident the force will find and convict the person responsible, adding that Stuart’s injuries were too severe to have been consensual or self-inflicted and suggested he may have been held down in the water.

Mr Lubbock said he believes the person who killed his son will be found. He addressed Mr Barrymore directly and said: “I think it’s time he comes clean. It’s time now, Michael. I think you know more about this than you have said and the focus will be on you.

“It’s time now for you to either clear your name or put your hands up to what happened because you must know.

“I think the people who were there in Michael Barrymore’s home on that day, on that night, are thinking it hasn’t gone away, it won’t go away,” he added.

“Even the people who weren’t directly involved in this must be starting to feel very very uneasy and it’s time not for them.

“The penny’s dropped now, it’s time for people to come forward whether they are directly involved and indirectly involved. Any bit of information they’ve got, they must come forward with that.”

Stuart Lubbock had suffered severe internal injuries, suggesting he may have been the victim of a serious sexual assault, medical experts said (Essex Police/PA Wire)

The documentary, titled ‘Barrymore: The Body In The Pool’, is due to be aired on Channel 4 on Thursday. It will feature interviews with journalists, forensic experts and people who knew Stuart, as well as previously unseen images.

It will also include the 999 call made when Mr Lubbock died.

The caller said: “A fella has drowned in the pool. We have got him out.

“There’s a party going on and someone has just gone out and found him. I think the geezer’s dead mate.”

Barrymore spoke about the death last year on Piers Morgan’s ITV show Life Stories and said he “couldn’t be more sorry” for his behaviour that night but he is “100% innocent”.

He was arrested in 2007 but never charged with any offence. After, he sued Essex Police under the claim it was a wrongful arrest that cost him about £2.5 million in lost earnings, but Court of Appeal judges concluded he would be entitled to only “nominal” damages.

Additional reporting by agencies