Michael Barrymore ‘wins legal battle with police over wrongful pool death arrest’

Star claimed he suffered 'distress and damage to his reputation' after being arrested over the death of Stuart Lubbock in 2001

Stuart Lubbock (Essex Police/PA Wire)

Essex Police have accepted that the entertainer Michael Barrymore was wrongfully arrested over the death of a man found dead in his swimming pool, it has been reported.

Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found dead after a party at the former Strike It Lucky star’s home near Roydon, Essex in 2001. Postmortem tests found he had suffered severe internal injuries indicating sexual assault and that his bloodstream contained ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol.

Mr Barrymore was arrested, along with two other men, in 2007 and questioned on suspicion of murder and serious sexual assault. He was kept in police custody for 36 hours but the case against him was dropped due to insufficient evidence.

It emerged last year that Mr Barrymore was suing Essex Police and reportedly seeking “aggravated and exemplary damages” for his “wrongful arrest and detention” which he claimed had caused him to suffer “loss and damage, namely distress, shock, anxiety and damage to his reputation”.

Mr Barrymore always maintained that Essex Police had no right to arrest him because there was no evidence of his involvement in Mr Lubbock’s death.

The Daily Mirror has now reported that newly lodged High Court papers show that Mr Barrymore and Essex Police signed an agreement earlier this month stating: “Judgement be entered for the claimant [Barrymore] on the issue of liability”.

This would effectively mean that Essex Police have accepted the entertainer was wrongfully arrested, and any subsequent court proceedings would focus only on costs and damages payments that the judge might award to Mr Barrymore.

Mr Barrymore has not commented on Essex Police's reported admission. He told a fan on Twitter: “As much as I can say for the minute is ‘Justice’”, adding later: “Only for legal reasons”.

Stuart Lubbock (Essex Police/PA Wire)

Mr Barrymore, a hugely popular TV light entertainment star in the 1980s and 1990s, lost his lucrative contract with ITV in 2002, after an inquest into Mr Lubbock’s death recorded an open verdict.

During the 2002 inquest, Mr Barrymore repeatedly refused to answer questions about drug taking at his home, using a court rule that protects inquest witnesses from incriminating themselves.

A year earlier Mr Barrymore, who came out as gay and split from his wife Cheryl in 1995, had received a police caution for possession of cannabis after officers started investigating Mr Lubbock’s death.

Mr Lubbock, a meat factory worker and father-of-two was found face down in the swimming pool after meeting Mr Barrymore and his friends in a Harlow nightclub and going with them to the entertainer’s house.

No one has ever been charged over his death.

Mr Lubbock's father, Terry, 71, told the Daily Mirror : “This is not closure or justice for me. That will not come until I find out what really happened to my son. Where did those injuries come from? Stuart didn’t inflict them on himself.”

An Essex Police spokeswoman said: “Due to ongoing litigation, we cannot comment.”