Death of Stuart Lubbock

Stuart Lubbock (1 October 1969 – 31 March 2001) was an English meat-factory worker who died under suspicious circumstances at the home of television personality Michael Barrymore on 31 March 2001. Barrymore and two others present – James Futers and Simon Shaw – reported finding Lubbock unconscious in the swimming pool of Barrymore's home in Roydon, Essex, earlier that morning. Lubbock was discovered by the examining pathologist to have suffered serious anal injuries, with traces of ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol in his blood. Barrymore's television career effectively ended as a result of the police investigation and legal action around the case.

According to BBC News, neighbours described Stuart Lubbock as a "pleasant, sociable" man who lived with his father Terry and brother Kevin in a terraced house in Harlow, Essex. At the time of his death, Lubbock had two daughters, aged four and one, who were being brought up by his former partner whom he had left months earlier. Lubbock, a wholesale butcher's supervisor, had visited the Roydon home of television personality Michael Barrymore after meeting him in a local nightclub, the Millennium.

A September 2002 inquest reached an open verdict: Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said, "None of these witnesses who were party guests for three hours have given to this court an explanation about how Stuart Lubbock, a previously fit 31-year old, should be found floating in a swimming pool at the premises with a significant level of alcohol and drugs in his system and have serious anal injuries."

Michael Heath, the pathologist at Lubbock's post-mortem, concluded that he had drowned accidentally. Three other pathologists who examined the body said that the marks on Lubbock's forehead suggested that he might have been asphyxiated. None of the pathologists claimed that this was the cause of death, and the marks could have been caused by extensive resuscitation attempts.^{[citation needed]} In January 2006, Heath volunteered to stop working for police after he was criticised for multiple occasions of having drawn conclusions contradictory to other pathologists.

On 11 January 2006, Tony Bennett, the Lubbock family's solicitor, issued an application in the Harlow Magistrates Court for Barrymore to be charged with six offences, relating to his actions on the morning of Lubbock's death. Bennett's firm attempted to serve the papers on Barrymore whilst he was appearing on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother UK, generating more headlines. This was later thrown out of court by a district judge, who ruled that Barrymore had no case to answer.

On 10 May 2006, Kylie Merritt, a witness at the coroner's inquest, was arrested on suspicion of perjury. Merritt, a witness on the night of Lubbock's death, told the inquest that she saw Barrymore put some cocaine on his finger and rub it on Lubbock's gums. During a lie detector test conducted by tabloid newspaper the News of the World, Merritt later stated that she could not be certain that her allegation was true. On 14 June, the charges against her were dropped.

On 19 June 2006, Heath was called before a disciplinary tribunal at the Old Bailey. The following day his testimony was discredited. At the hearing, Charles Miskin QC for the Home Office said: "It is the belief of The Home Office that Dr Heath has fallen short of the high standards required by the Secretary of State of forensic pathologists."

Lubbock's father Terry set up the Lubbock Trust to campaign for further investigation into the case, and to generate as much publicity as possible. On 2 December 2006, police announced that they were reopening the investigation into Lubbock's death.