Shropshire Star

Michael Barrymore: How many times am I supposed to be kicked?

The entertainer said ‘I’ve never had anything to hide’.

Published
Last updated
Michael Barrymore

Michael Barrymore has said nobody who was at his house on the night of Stuart Lubbock’s death knows what happened.

Mr Lubbock’s body was found in the swimming pool at Barrymore’s then-home in Roydon, Essex, on March 31 2001.

Barrymore wants another investigation into the 31-year-old’s death by a new police force.

The 67-year-old told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he is going through “pain and agony” and called Channel 4’s recent programme Barrymore: The Body In The Pool “vile and vicious”.

The entertainer said of the other people at his house on the night Mr Lubbock died: “I’ve never seen them since that day … I haven’t got a number (for them), nothing.

“I don’t know any of them.

“The wall of silence is because they don’t know (what happened). I do believe that.”

Asked if he had anything fresh to offer the police, he said: “I honestly wish I did”, adding that he had been “through 20 years of Hell”.

“I haven’t got another another (story). I’ve only got the one story,” he said.

Barrymore, who pulled out of Dancing On Ice after an injury, said: “I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve never had anything to hide. I’ve got every right to go out and be employed.

“I’ve got every right to go out and to be employed and work in the business I’ve worked in without … being kicked in the teeth just because I’m back on the telly.”

He said Mr Lubbock’s father Terry’s torment “comes before me and everybody” but added: “I can’t live my life. I can’t get on with my life.”

Barrymore said he has been a victim of “innuendo” and added: “Why would I hide or keep anything and put myself through this pain and agony every time that this comes up?”

Breaking down, he said: “The only reason I got through the last 19, 20 years is the massive support from fans and my close mates …  They know I’m not a wrong ‘un.”

He went on: “How many times am I supposed to be kicked? How many times am I supposed to take it?” but added: “I’m not looking for sympathy.”

He accused Essex Police of being “hell-bent on ‘This is how it is…'”

His solicitor told the show: “Two years before the (Channel 4) documentary started, they approached Michael and said they want it to be ‘a celebration of your life’ and ‘Can you come and meet us?'” and that he would receive a fee.”

Barrymore said he did not want to be involved and then the documentary was made, the solicitor said.

Stuart Lubbock Channel 4 documentary
Terry Lubbock said Michael Barrymore’s interview would help keep his son’s murder in the public eye (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Terry Lubbock said he was surprised by what was said during the interview.

“The evidence is clear, there is no doubt, my son was murdered,” Terry Lubbock told the PA news agency.

“Barrymore doesn’t seem to be accepting that fact.

“That surprised me.

“But I’m glad he’s done the interview.

“I want my son’s murder to stay in the public eye.

“This interview will help to do that.

“Someone who was in that house knows what happened.

“I beg them. Come forward, talk to the police. Tell the truth. Get this off your conscience.”

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.