Last night on television Anita Singh A clear case for this story to remain in the spotlight
Nearly 20 years have passed since Stuart Lubbock was found dead at Michael Barrymore’s home. Barrymore keeps trying to move on: last month he attempted his latest career comeback as a contestant on Dancing On Ice, only to drop out with a broken wrist. But Stuart Lubbock’s devastated family cannot move on, and Barrymore: the Body in the Pool (Channel 4) was a clear-eyed examination of why this case should remain in the spotlight.
The story was probably new to anyone under the age of 35. How to explain to them Barrymore’s former level of fame? He was one of the biggest stars on TV, in the same league as Ant and Dec are today, his popularity built on a rapport with the public. It is not difficult to see why Lubbock, a young man leading an ordinary existence as a meat factory supervisor, would accept an invitation to a party at Barrymore’s house after meeting him at an Essex nightclub. “He was going to go to work the next day and say, ‘You’ll never guess where I was last night,’” said his brother.
Three hours after the party started, Lubbock was found floating in the swimming pool. Barrymore fled the scene. Initially, the death was thought to be a drowning. But four forensic pathologists interviewed on camera agreed that Lubbock suffered a serious sexual assault, sustaining injuries that one of them described as “horrific”. One saw evidence of neck compression, suggesting Lubbock had been strangled or held in an arm lock. Police failed to secure the scene and items that they now suspect were used in the assault – a pool thermometer and a door handle – went missing.
None of this was new information, unless you count the public airing of a 999 call to the ambulance service (“A geezer’s drowned in the pool… you don’t expect it, do you?”). The film was a hybrid: part cold-case investigation, part dissection of Barrymore’s rise and fall. It was stronger on the latter, but even as a retread of the facts it was compelling to watch. A cryptic postscript told us police believe that “loyalties” may have changed, and earlier this week Essex Police relaunched their investigation with a £20,000 reward. The detective now leading the case said he believes that the victim was raped and murdered, and that one or more of the eight people in the house that night was responsible. Three people arrested in connection with the death in 2007 but released due to insufficient evidence – Barrymore, Jonathan Kenney and Justin Merritt – have not been “completely eliminated” from inquiries the detective said.
Barrymore was not involved in the programme, but it included snippets of interviews from down the years: on Tonight with Trevor Mcdonald, looking haunted as he described the tragedy as “like some really bad film”, and on GMTV protesting his innocence. He later claimed a nurse said Lubbock had no injuries when he arrived at the hospital; the pathologists dismissed this as an impossibility. Only last year he was on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, insisting: “I am entitled to walk around with my head held high.” Yet at the inquest he refused to answer a number of important questions.
The Lubbock family are no closer to finding out what happened to Stuart. The film gave them an opportunity to bring the case back into the public eye. It was sad to watch his ailing father, Terry, still looking for answers after years of campaigning for justice. We also heard from Lubbock’s former wife, and the film kept returning to poignant footage of their wedding, with Lubbock as a smiling groom.
As with Channel 4’s Jade Goody documentary last year, this film illustrated how far public attitudes and media standards have progressed. When Barrymore came out in 1995, getting up on stage during a pub drag night and singing, “Start spreading the news/i think I’m gay today,” it was worthy of a slot on Newsnight. Another report asked solemnly if the presenter of My Kind of People could still be “our kind of entertainer”. The tabloid treatment of him then was unedifying, but nothing compared to their coverage of the Lubbock case. A former News of the World journalist describing his tactics – turning up at the home of the victim’s mother in a suit to give the false impression that he was a detective – cut a pathetic figure, so desperate was he to brag about his methods.
And as with the Goody film, Channel 4 demonstrated no selfawareness about its own role in this sorry tale. It was the broadcaster that handed Barrymore a bumper cheque to appear on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, giving him the opportunity to recast himself as a victim and plot a career revival. That’s entertainment.
Barrymore: the Body in the Pool