EXCLUSIVE: THE POOL OF SECRETS: Brother of man found dead at Michael Barrymore’s mansion demands fresh DNA blitz to unmask killer after 25 years

• Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found dead in the TV star’s swimming pool in 2001

• Father-of-two had suffered “horrendous” internal injuries and sexual assault

• Brother Kevin Lubbock calls for “cutting-edge” forensics to finally crack the case

• Police admit: “Someone at that party knows the truth”

Stuart Lubbock had suffered severe injuries prior to his death

The horrifying truth, buried for a quarter of a century beneath the manicured lawns of Michael Barrymore’s Essex mansion, is finally on the verge of coming to light. For decades, the mystery of what happened to Stuart Lubbock has haunted the British public—a dark tale of celebrity, drugs, and a brutal death that brought a TV titan’s career to a crashing halt.

Now, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, the victim’s family has broken their silence with a thunderous demand for justice. Speaking exclusively, Stuart’s brother, Kevin Lubbock, has publicly called for the deployment of “advanced DNA technology” to expose the perpetrator behind the stomach-churning death in the celebrity swimming pool.

As the calls for fresh testing grow louder, a palpable sense of panic is beginning to set in among those who were there that fateful night. And the name being whispered most frequently in the corridors of power is one that remains “far from unfamiliar.”

Michael Barrymore has always denied any involvement in Stuart’s death(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

A Night of Decadence and Death

The nightmare began on March 31, 2001. Michael Barrymore, then 49 and the king of Saturday night television, had spent the evening at the Millennium nightclub in Harlow. He returned to his palatial home in Roydon with a ragtag group of locals he had just met, including 31-year-old butcher Stuart Lubbock.

The party was a blur of alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine. But by 5:48 am, the music had stopped. An emergency call summoned paramedics to the property, where they found Stuart’s lifeless body floating in the pool.

While initial reports suggested a simple drowning, the post-mortem revealed a sickening reality. Stuart had not just drowned; he had been the victim of a “serious sexual assault” and sustained internal injuries so severe they mirrored a horror movie. Pathologists also noted marks on his face consistent with asphyxiation—suggesting Stuart may have been dead before he even hit the water.

Stuart Lubbock had suffered internal injuries

‘The Science has Caught Up’

“I hope that new DNA methods will provide the truth of how Stuart got those injuries,” Kevin Lubbock, 55, told the Mirror. “The science has come a long way in 25 years. All of the key evidence should be retested.”

Kevin’s plea comes years after his father, Terry Lubbock, died at 76, heartbroken and without the justice he had fought so relentlessly to achieve. Terry’s dying words remain a haunting indictment of the eight other people at that party: “I know somebody at that party inflicted those injuries on my Stuart.”

The evidence in question is a mountain of forensic potential. A total of 98 items were seized, including Stuart’s boxer shorts, a bloodied towel, and a bathrobe found poolside. Crucially, the Independent Police Complaints Commission previously upheld complaints regarding “police blunders,” noting that investigators failed to seize a pool thermometer and a door handle—both of which mysteriously vanished from the scene.

Jonathan Kenney at the inquest in 2002

The Discrepancies and the ‘Panic’

As the push for re-testing gains momentum, the glaring inconsistencies in the accounts provided by those present are back under the microscope.

The timeline of the night is a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. Jonathan Kenney, Barrymore’s lover at the time, claimed the entertainer found the body around 3:50 am. However, Barrymore himself later stated in a formal report that he discovered Stuart between 4:30 am and 4:45 am. Why was the ambulance not called until nearly an hour later?

Furthermore, the temperature of Stuart’s body—a frigid 29.3°C when he reached the hospital—suggests he had been in the water far longer than the guests claimed.

The pool at Barrymore’s former house(Image: Channel 4)

The Shadow of the Star

Michael Barrymore, now 74 and attempting a career resurgence via TikTok, has always vehemently denied any involvement in the death or the assault. He was arrested in 2007 along with two other men, Justin Merritt and Jonathan Kenney, but all were released without charge.

The pool thermometer vanished(Image: PA)

Yet, the cloud of suspicion has never truly lifted. Witnesses at the inquest painted a picture of a chaotic night; one guest, Kylie Merritt, tearfully claimed the TV star offered cocaine to the party—a claim Barrymore denied.

Essex Police remain resolute. A spokesperson confirmed this week: “We have never given up. Nine people were at that party. We know that not everyone was responsible, but someone was.”

A bloodied towel was found next to the pool

With DNA “phenotyping” and modern “touch DNA” techniques now capable of extracting profiles from the smallest skin cells, the walls are closing in. For the “far from unfamiliar” figures who watched the sun rise over a dead man’s body in 2001, the long silence may finally be about to break.