Dead man's father plots Barrymore show demo

Published on Tuesday 2 January 2007 11:49

THE father of the man found dead in Michael Barrymore's swimming pool is set to stage a protest at the premiere of the controversial star's new stage musical in Edinburgh.

Terry Lubbock, 62, will make the 320-mile trip from his home in Essex to attend the first show in the week-long run of Scrooge at the Festival Theatre.

He is remaining tight-lipped about his plans in Edinburgh but has vowed to "hound" Barrymore for the truth about his son's death.

Mr Lubbock is convinced Barrymore knows more than he is revealing about the death of his son Stuart, 31, after a drink and drug-fuelled party at the star's home in Roydon, Essex, in March 2001.

He was found dead in Barrymore's swimming pool and a post-mortem examination found he had severe internal injuries.

Barrymore, below, has always insisted that the death was a tragic accident - with Stuart drowning in the pool while taking a swim on his own.

Detectives from Essex Police have recently reopened the inquiry into the death and it is thought that everyone who attended the party is being re-interviewed.

Mr Lubbock, who has formed the Lubbock Trust to further his campaign, said today: "The whole idea of us going to Edinburgh is to make sure that Barrymore does not forget us.

"We are going to hound him and squeeze him until he tells the truth."

News of the protest comes after Barrymore cancelled half of the performances in Edinburgh because of a "throat problem" that is said to be plaguing the former Strike It Lucky host.

Mr Lubbock said he planned to attend the Festival Theatre premiere on January 29 with his friend, Harry Cichy, who is co- chairman of the Trust, and the family solicitor, Tony Bennett.

He said: "We'll make it be known to Barrymore that we're there. I hear he's cancelled a week in Edinburgh, which is interesting. I do feel that we are getting inside Mr Barrymore's head and I feel he is being squeezed, which is our intention.

"He knows the truth and he's got to tell the truth."

The second week of performances of the show at the Festival Theatre, starting February 5, was cancelled last week, but the first five shows, beginning January 29, will still go ahead as planned.

Theatre bosses have guaranteed that there will be no problem accommodating everyone who has bought tickets for the second week in the previous week.

But they have insisted that ticket sales for the show continue to be "fine".

Mr Lubbock says he expects the reduced one-week run at the Festival Theatre to be far from a sell-out.

He said: "I wouldn't expect ticket sales for this show to be good. In the past people have given Barrymore the benefit of the doubt despite his rather chequered life.

"This time, they're not so sure and a lot of people are now beginning to realise that they've been taken for a ride."

Barrymore has been re-interviewed already as part of the new police inquiry into the death.

It was reported last week that Essex Police were investigating new lines of inquiry, including that there was a mystery guest at the party that they previously did not know anything about.

Commenting on the show's reduced run, a spokeswoman for the Festival Theatre said: "Ticket sales are going fine and another brochure will be coming out in early January which we expect to provide the final push."

Barrymore's agent, based in New Zealand, was unavailable for comment today.