Barrymore ‘set to get millions’ over pool body arrest blunder
MICHAEL Barrymore is in line for a payout that could total millions of pounds after a judge ruled yesterday he was entitled to “more than nominal” compensation for the arrest that “ruined” his showbiz career.
The comedian and TV presenter claims Essex police wrongly arrested him over the death of Stuart Lubbock, 31, whose body was found in the former star’s swimming pool.
Mr Justice Stuart-Smith ruled against the force, which had argued for a nominal payout for quizzing Barrymore on suspicion of rape and murder in 2007.
Barrymore, 65, who was not present in London’s High Court, values his claim at more than £2.4million.
Destroyed
The judge did not decide on the sum, as his ruling dealt only with the preliminary issue of the level of damages to be awarded to Barrymore, who brought the action in his real name, Michael Ciaran Parker.
Essex police had admitted the arrest was unlawful, as the arresting officer did not have reasonable grounds to suspect guilt.
Mr Justice Stuart-Smith ruled that the Chief Constable, “has failed to prove that, if not arrested unlawfully as he was, Mr Parker could and would have been arrested lawfully” and added he was “entitled to recover more than nominal damages”.
Essex police argued Barrymore could have been lawfully arrested by another officer, which would justify nominal damages. The judge ruled that there was information to make a lawful arrest but there was only one designated arresting officer and “none of the police officers at the scene had sufficient information or had been sufficiently briefed”.
At an earlier hearing, Hugh Tomlinson QC said Barrymore was never charged and the Crown Prosecution Service later made it “crystal clear” there was no basis for any charges.
He said Barrymore was convinced that Mr Lubbock’s injuries were not caused at his home in Roydon but he did not know what happened.
He said publicity after the arrest “destroyed the claimant’s career”.
Mr Lubbock’s body was found in the pool after a party in 2001. A postmortem examination revealed he had suffered serious injuries and an inquest recorded an open verdict.
Yesterday, Stuart Lubbock’s father Terry, 72, said the judge’s decision was “disgusting”. He said of Barrymore’s compensation bid: “I don’t think he should have got anything.”
Essex police will ask for permission to appeal.
The force said: “The judgment is clear that the officers... had reasonable grounds to suspect Mr Parker had raped or murdered Mr Lubbock.
“Unfortunately the designated arresting officer who did have the required knowledge to make a lawful arrest was stuck in traffic when Mr Parker was seen. For operational reasons it was not desirable to postpone the arrest co-ordinated with the arrest of two other suspects.” Michael Barrymore, left, at the High Court in London for an earlier hearing. Stuart Lubbock, inset, whose body was found in the star’s Essex swimming pool in 2001