Barrymore pool pathologist faces new investigation
A DISCREDITED pathologist who missed evidence in the case of Stuart Lubbock – found dead at the home of comedian Michael Barrymore 20 years ago – is under fresh investigation for failing to carry out a proper inquiry into a death, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Bereaved relatives last night questioned how Dr Michael Heath had been allowed to carry out sensitive post mortems despite a series of controversies over 20 years, including two quashed murder convictions.
He is now subject to a new investigation by the General Medical Council (GMC) and a series of stringent conditions were placed upon his licence to practise earlier this month.
A source close to the investigation has disclosed that a whistleblower contacted regulators over concerns that Dr Heath made serious failings in a post mortem last year. The news that he is still practising, and subject to a new investigation, will raise questions about whether other examinations he has presided over should be reviewed.
Dr Heath examined Mr Lubbock after he was found dead in Barrymore’s swimming pool, in Roydon, Essex, in March 2001. His claim that Mr Lubbock had drowned meant vital weeks were missed in the investigation. Terry Lubbock, the dead man’s father, said he was “concerned” that Dr Heath was still registered and that he should have been “struck off years ago”.
Questions over the reliability of Dr Heath’s earlier evidence led to the convictions for two murders being quashed and an appeal granted for road rage killer Kenneth Noye, which later failed.
In one case, an innocent man spent three years in prison after Dr Heath wrongly concluded that his girlfriend had been murdered. The case and another in which Dr Heath incorrectly claimed a woman had been killed led to his resignation as a Home Office pathologist in 2006.
However, since then he has quietly continued to carry out post mortems for coroners and, despite two further tribunals in front of the GMC, has been allowed to keep his registration.
It was only after the latest allegations surfaced that stringent conditions were placed upon the work of the pathologist, who is now in his early 70s.
The conditions, placed during a preliminary hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service last month, state that he can only work to complete or comment on investigations he has already started.
The GMC would not comment, but it is thought that conditions only apply when allegations are serious enough that, if proven, would mean the doctor poses a threat to patients or the public.
One bereaved relative, who wished to remain anonymous, said Dr Heath had a “long history of harm” and should never have been allowed to carry out a recent post mortem on their loved one. They said: “I want to see him struck off and I want all of his cases to be scrutinised independently.”
Dr Heath did not respond to requests for comment.