Star whinges about treatment after pool death

MICHAEL Barrymore claims he was “eaten up and spat out” after the death of Stuart Lubbock at his house.

His TV career effectively ended on March 31, 2001 when the butcher was found dead in the swimming pool at his home in Roydon, Essex.

The entertainer has been criticised for leaving the scene before police had arrived and refusing to answer questions at the inquest about any drug use at the party held that night.

But appearing on ITV’s Life Stories, Barrymore, 67, insists he is “100 per cent innocent” and should be able to “walk with my head held high”.

Asked by host Piers Morgan about Lubbock’s death, Barrymore said: “I could not be more sorry that this event took place.

“I gave Stuart nothing. There were no Es at my house. I had a joint. If there was cocaine, he didn’t get it from me. Stuart’s family deserve proper BY MARK JEFFERIES answers and the police have not completed their inquiries properly.”

Barrymore said it was “wrong” to leave his house and go to his friend’s nearby after Stuart, 31, had died.

The star was wearing swimming trunks and said he carried a pair of trousers and some letters he was sent by Princess Diana as he worried “people would see” me with him.

Barrymore also revealed that, at his worst, he was drinking “a couple of bottles of Jack Daniels a day” and tried to kill himself. Towards the end of the interview, he cries but says he “feels amazing” being back on a TV set.

Asked if the interview had given him a taste for a comeback, he said: “Of course it has. But I’ll get over it if it doesn’t come back. I am not going to sit waiting for the phone to ring.” ●Piers Morgan’s Life Stories is on ITV at 9.35pm on Saturday.