Police are ‘set to charge suspect’ over death of Stuart Lubbock – 20 years after he was found dead in pool during party at Michael Barrymore’s £2m mansion

Police are set to charge a suspect over the death of a man at Michael Barrymore’s home 20 years ago, it was revealed today.

Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found dead in the pool of Mr Barrymore’s £2million Essex home in 2001.

Police are now ready to ‘imminently’ send a file to the Crown Prosecution Service after a man, 50,  was arrested on suspicion of murder and rape.

It is claimed that the dossier includes evidence relating to alleged involvement of the suspect in Mr Lubbock’s death, which ended the TV career of Barrymore, 68, almost overnight.

An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Following our substantial and detailed investigation, we will imminently be submitting a file to the CPS for their consideration and decision.’

His 76-year-old father Terry Lubbock, who is battling cancer, was thankful for the news, but said his only regret is that ‘whatever happens I will never have the day in court to face my son’s killer’.

Stuart’s brother Kevin, 53, said: ‘This shows why my dad has never given up fighting for the justice we all deserve.’

Police reportedly say they have made a ‘substantial and detailed investigation’ and will be handing a file to the CPS ‘for their consideration and decision’.

Prosecutors will possibly look at it this week before deciding what charges, if any, to bring.

A source said police think they have enough evidence for the case to go to court.

It comes following revelations that Mr Barrymore, 68, had spoken with police about the death, and the case’s lead officer, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings, had visited Stuart’s father.

A source said: ‘All Terry has ever wanted is justice for his boy. It breaks his heart he may not live to see it — but the next best thing is knowing there are good people.’

A 50-year-old man, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and indecent assault in Cheshire on March 17 after ‘significant new information’ came to light, was released under investigation earlier last month.

Butcher Mr Lubbock, 31, had been attending a party at Barrymore’s luxury home in Roydon with eight other people when he died.

Mike Browne, Mr Barrymore’s former agent, said: ‘The police asked us if we had anything new that might have come to mind in the last 20 years but we don’t.

‘We both just want this to be resolved for everyone’s sake.’

Mr Browne said Essex Police detectives visited his home earlier – shortly after a man, 50, was held in Cheshire in connection with Stuart’s death.

He told the Mirror: ‘They just really wanted to clarify if I was aware of anything coming to light over the last 20 years. Of course, my honest answer was believe me, if anything had done, you would have been made aware of it’.

Stuart was found floating in Mr Barrymore’s swimming pool but nobody has been brought to justice for causing his death.

Detectives believe that Mr Lubbock may also have been abused.

The initial investigation was deeply flawed after officers failed to secure the crime scene and assumed Stuart had drowned.

A post-mortem examination showed Mr Lubbock had suffered severe internal injuries which suggested he had been sexually assaulted.

Alcohol, ecstasy and cocaine were found in his bloodstream.

The coroner recorded an open verdict.

Stuart Lubbock’s death shocked Britain and ended Michael Barrymore’s TV career overnight. The star, who made millions as one of the UK’s top TV personalities of the 1980s and 1990s, has always denied playing any part in his suspected murder.

He has been reduced to playing Strike It Lucky live with fans on Instagram and was last seen on TV during a stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.

A planned appearance on Dancing on Ice last year never happened after he broke his wrist and he was never invited back.

Last year’s Channel 4 documentary about the case prompted Barrymore, 68, to issue a fresh denial of any wrongdoing, saying: ‘I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media.’

Stuart was found floating in Mr Barrymore’s swimming pool but nobody has been brought to justice for causing his death, two decades ago this month. Detectives believe that Mr Lubbuck may also have been abused by a pool thermometer and outhouse handle that went missing after his suspected murder.

The initial investigation was deeply flawed after officers failed to secure the crime scene and assumed Stuart had drowned. Mr Lubbock may have been fatally injured in the jacuzzi and then dumped in the pool to make it look like an accident, it has been claimed previously.

Michael Barrymore was criticised for leaving his home soon after Mr Lubbock was found floating in the outside pool of his £2million home, which was sold for just £1.4million last year.

The former television presenter, who lives in West London and became a household name for shows such as Strike It Lucky, has always denied involvement in the death.

He was married to agent Cheryl Barrymore for 21 years but revealed he was gay in August 1995 and split from his wife a year later.

Barrymore was arrested on suspicion of rape and serious sexual assault in 2007, along with two other people. No charges were brought due to lack of evidence.

Barrymore later launched a high court case for £2.4million damages for wrongful arrest. He received a nominal sum after Essex Police won an appeal.

Last year Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings, who is now in charge of the case, revealed that two items possibly used in the brutal assault on Mr Lubbock – a pool thermometer and outhouse handle – went missing.

The crime scene was not properly secured after his death as officers at first assumed the factory worker had drowned.

Mr Jennings has also said it was likely at least two people were involved in the crime.

The policeman said at the time: ‘I believe that he [Mr Lubbock] was raped and murdered that night.

‘One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault.’

The arrest comes just days after Stuart’s father Terry Lubbock, 76, said he had hopes that a witness with information might soon come forward to help the investigation.

Mr Lubbock, who has terminal cancer, said some people who were at the party must be living under ‘terrible’ pressure.

Source: (Daily Mail)