Michael Barrymore - death in the pool

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Poppydaisy said:
Well... I am one of these Gen Z people who only know him from tiktok! It was the videos with his gorgeous dog that got me. I know nothing else about him, pretty shocked when I saw this thread! Is there anywhere that does a good summary of all of this? I've gathered what I can from here but sounds like there's plenty more too, what an absolute awful situation
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This Wikipedia page will give you a good overview of Stuart's death and what happened after

en.m.wikipedia.org

Death of Stuart Lubbock - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
Poppydaisy said:
Well... I am one of these Gen Z people who only know him from tiktok! It was the videos with his gorgeous dog that got me. I know nothing else about him, pretty shocked when I saw this thread! Is there anywhere that does a good summary of all of this? I've gathered what I can from here but sounds like there's plenty more too, what an absolute awful situation
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He was one of the most famous people in the country thirty years ago and was very popular. Be he also had a drug and alcohol addictions and his personal life was a mess so he was always in the tabloids. I can see why people who are either too young or not from the U.K. like him because on TT he comes across as a sweet older man who loves his dog and post wholesome engaging content. He’s also really good at replying to people. He is very charismatic and charming. But you also see lots of older people saying how much they miss seeing him on TV, and they know exactly what happened.
 
Poppydaisy said:
Well... I am one of these Gen Z people who only know him from tiktok! It was the videos with his gorgeous dog that got me. I know nothing else about him, pretty shocked when I saw this thread! Is there anywhere that does a good summary of all of this? I've gathered what I can from here but sounds like there's plenty more too, what an absolute awful situation
Click to expand...

If you can watch the documentary it offers a real
insight into what happened.

As a brief overview, Barrymore was a high profile Saturday night ITV personality, the Ant and Dec of the time. Personally, I never liked him and his shouty “awight!” routine and his “jokes” mocking his audience. Yet for some reason people loved him, particularly older ladies who he would talk down to and be generally misogynistic towards, though they were seemingly oblivious.

His whole persona as a family entertainer and loving husband to his wife, who was also his manager, fell apart when he came out as gay. Nothing wrong with that, however he humiliated his wife by choosing to announce this at a gay nightspot singing “Start spreading the news, I’m gay today”. Tabloid gold, particularly in the late 90s.

By all accounts his wife was treated terribly. Barrymore was a drug addicted alcoholic narcissist who, if you read his wife’s autobiography, was abusive and violent.

However the public stood by him, and Barrymore’s showbiz career continued. This was the exception rather than the rule at the time so it seems that it gave him something of a God complex … he was a hard drinking, drug taking, party animal, with several boyfriends, and as a local celebrity, when he visited a nightclub in Harlow, Essex, he was lauded and he loved the attention and special treatment he received.

On the night in question, Barrymore and his boyfriend, Jonathan Kenny, went to the club and after meeting a few young people, some were invited back to his home. These were brother and sister Justin and Kylie Merritt and two female friends of Kylie, and Stuart Lubbock. Later they were joined by two local lads who knew Barrymore-James Futers and Simon Shaw.

His house was large, but while it was described as a “mansion” in the press, it was a big bungalow and not so vast that someone being violently raped and murdered could have been unheard by others present.

Yet this is what Barrymore claims happened … well, he claims that Stuart drowned in his pool with no-one present having noticed, yet at post-mortem examination this young man was found to have sustained serious anal injuries, indicating the use of a large implement. His anus was stretched to the size of an orange.

Pathologists believed that his injuries were unsurvivable and bruising to his face also suggested he had been strangled.

Yet Barrymore claimed he died from drowning. He was apparently found floating in the pool, however accounts of those present vary, with some claiming he was at the bottom of the pool when found. Even the person who dragged him from the water is unclear, as witness accounts contradict each other.

Barrymore also fled the scene immediately after the alarm was raised. His manager turned up and cleaned the scene and crucial implements such as a large pool thermometer and door handle that were in original police photographs were removed. These were items that could possibly have used on Stuart.

Barrymore immediately checked into rehab and there are reports of him receiving medical treatment for damage to his penis.

At the inquest into Stuart’s death, the coroner found the witnesses uncooperative, and since then Barrymore and others have been investigated and arrested more than once but have not been charged.

Barrymore has continually protested his innocence, though his recollection of the events of that night has continuously changed. He even tried blaming NHS staff for Stuart’s injuries. He has also repeatedly lamented the loss of his career, but shown little sympathy for Stuart and his family.
 
Catsontoast said:
If you can watch the documentary it offers a real
insight into what happened.

As a brief overview, Barrymore was a high profile Saturday night ITV personality, the Ant and Dec of the time. Personally, I never liked him and his shouty “awight!” routine and his “jokes” mocking his audience. Yet for some reason people loved him, particularly older ladies who he would talk down to and be generally misogynistic towards, though they were seemingly oblivious.

His whole persona as a family entertainer and loving husband to his wife, who was also his manager, fell apart when he came out as gay. Nothing wrong with that, however he humiliated his wife by choosing to announce this at a gay nightspot singing “Start spreading the news, I’m gay today”. Tabloid gold, particularly in the late 90s.

By all accounts his wife was treated terribly. Barrymore was a drug addicted alcoholic narcissist who, if you read his wife’s autobiography, was abusive and violent.

However the public stood by him, and Barrymore’s showbiz career continued. This was the exception rather than the rule at the time so it seems that it gave him something of a God complex … he was a hard drinking, drug taking, party animal, with several boyfriends, and as a local celebrity, when he visited a nightclub in Harlow, Essex, he was lauded and he loved the attention and special treatment he received.

On the night in question, Barrymore and his boyfriend, Jonathan Kenny, went to the club and after meeting a few young people, some were invited back to his home. These were brother and sister Justin and Kylie Merritt and two female friends of Kylie, and Stuart Lubbock. Later they were joined by two local lads who knew Barrymore-James Futers and Simon Shaw.

His house was large, but while it was described as a “mansion” in the press, it was a big bungalow and not so vast that someone being violently raped and murdered could have been unheard by others present.

Yet this is what Barrymore claims happened … well, he claims that Stuart drowned in his pool with no-one present having noticed, yet at post-mortem examination this young man was found to have sustained serious anal injuries, indicating the use of a large implement. His anus was stretched to the size of an orange.

Pathologists believed that his injuries were unsurvivable and bruising to his face also suggested he had been strangled.

Yet Barrymore claimed he died from drowning. He was apparently found floating in the pool, however accounts of those present vary, with some claiming he was at the bottom of the pool when found. Even the person who dragged him from the water is unclear, as witness accounts contradict each other.

Barrymore also fled the scene immediately after the alarm was raised. His manager turned up and cleaned the scene and crucial implements such as a large pool thermometer and door handle that were in original police photographs were removed. These were items that could possibly have used on Stuart.

Barrymore immediately checked into rehab and there are reports of him receiving medical treatment for damage to his penis.

At the inquest into Stuart’s death, the coroner found the witnesses uncooperative, and since then Barrymore and others have been investigated and arrested more than once but have not been charged.

Barrymore has continually protested his innocence, though his recollection of the events of that night has continuously changed. He even tried blaming NHS staff for Stuart’s injuries. He has also repeatedly lamented the loss of his career, but shown little sympathy for Stuart and his family.
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Jesus that is absolutely awful, that poor poor man. I did see something about the reported timings of the injuries not adding up and blame being put on hospital staff! That is absolutely horrendous, definitely changes how I feel about him. Thank you for the summary!
 
He also showed absolute contempt towards Stuart Lubbock's father. He refused to apologise in any way for what happened. If someone had drowned in my pool, I'd be apologising to their family but he refused to saying he couldn't apologise as he wasn't to blame for what had happened.

I may not be remembering this correctly but wasn't he an awful bully in Celebrity Big Brother too? Jodie Marsh was his victim, I think? He also bowed down to Jimmy Savile, literally got down on his knees in front of him and bowed down, this shows you the character of the man when you realise that at that point everyone in the industry knew what Savile was.
 
troutpout69 said:
He knows damn well what happened at that party! It was either him who did it or he’s covering for someone else!
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EVERYONE at that party knows what happened and were involved in some way - whether physically involved or by turning a blind eye to what went on. That’s why none of them will speak and why we’ll never find out what actually happened.
 
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