Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 5 6 7 ··· 23 24

Original poster

Michael Barrymore

585 replies

ChairsAndStairs · 06/02/2020 21:29

I’ve always wondered why his career was so badly damaged by what happened at his house.

It was awful that a man died, but he was never found guilty and it was never proved that he was in any way involved - as far as I remember.

He was so popular before and had a really strong career. AIBU to wonder why people turned against him so quickly?

I don’t mean this to be a goady thread, just generally wondering why he was the ‘only’ fall guy for what happened.

OP posts:

Thread gallery

MarthasGinYard · 07/02/2020 08:26

The 999 call was beyond odd

Alisaslisa · 07/02/2020 08:28

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 07/02/2020 08:28

'Dead eyed' is right, he is a very odd looking man for someone who is meant to be funny. Absolutely nothing about him seems genuine.

10FrozenFingers · 07/02/2020 08:29

That was a suggestion put forward by Barrymore's barrister; the pathologist explained that was unlikely due to the width of the thermometer and the fact it had a rounded tip. He pretty much ruled that out as an option.

Thanks for confirming I wasn't imagining it.

Ofthread · 07/02/2020 08:32

'That doesn't make sense as he died of a cardiac arrest. Which may have been caused by the rape, I don't know if that's possible? But he didn't die of drowning.' Ok then, they killed him due to the rape & decided to throw him in the pool to cover it up.

Bluerussian · 07/02/2020 08:34

I've watched it up to after Big Brother and the police are going to reopen the case, I'll see the rest later.

So many unanswered questions and conflicting statements; I don't know what to believe.

MarthasGinYard · 07/02/2020 08:35

Barrymore said he thought he 'drowned'

anonacfr · 07/02/2020 08:42

Can someone tell me what the documentary was called? I can't seem to find it on catch up.

pilates · 07/02/2020 08:53

The documentary left me feeling it was a crime that would have been solved in today’s world. It’s ludicrous to think MB or any of the other people didn’t know what happened. I hope SL’s family get justice.

DonKeyshot · 07/02/2020 08:54

MB has no filter, as those who remember him on TV will know. If he knew anything he'd have blabbed it by now

I suspect that Barrymore's apparent "no filter" is part of a carefully contrived persona and if he was implicated in, or was guilty of, a serious crime that "filter" would become a steel trap that would lock down anything he didn't want to reveal, 10FrozenFingers.

I'm not familiar with Barrymore's career, but I have met people who are adept at covering their innate ruthlessness with a 'look at me, I'm so scatterbrained/guileless/open and honest I couldn't hurt a fly' act and I see no reason to believe that Barrymore is doing anything more than acting innocent of what went on in his home that night.

ExcessiveAdmin · 07/02/2020 09:09

I’m no pathologist and I wasn’t there so this is purely speculation.

However, judging by Stuart Lubbock’s injuries I think at least two people were involved. His anal injuries were so severe that he must have struggled during the rape.
That would need someone else to hold him down. He had petechiae in eyes consistent with strangulation so someone was forcefully holding him down.
He had a cardiac arrest, probably from situation described above.
They threw him in the pool to cover it up.
Barrymore is guilty as hell- he knows what happened that night as do the other guests.

Bluerussian · 07/02/2020 09:11

MarthasGinYard Fri 07-Feb-20 08:35:36
Barrymore said he thought he 'drowned' hmm
.............

Well he probably did think that when he first saw him lying dead, floating in the pool. That would be the first thing you'd think.

It's all quite horrible. I wonder if a couple of other people got in through the grounds and caught Stuart unawares. Such things do happen.

longwayoff · 07/02/2020 09:12

If he didn't drown, i.e. no water in his lungs, then he must have been dead when put in the pool? Or are we expected to believe he was swimming and had a cardiac arrest? Nothing about it makes sense OP and imo MB deserves all he's got coming to him. Most of the police team who worked on this will have retired by now, so new eyes on any evidence may make a difference. I don't think MB has had enough money to pay off the number of people involved but I do believe that there's probably photos or a tape somewhere that's keeping lips shut tight. They would have had home cctv at least and MB strikes me as the kind of person who'd put a camera in the loo 'for a larf'. Don't think he'd pass up the opportunity to relive an 'orgy' after the event.

BaolFan · 07/02/2020 09:19

I think that more than one person was involved. Poor Stuart must have realised that he was fighting for his life and there would have been a huge struggle unless he was restrained. I don't recall anything in the aftermath to suggest that the three men under suspicion, had any injuries. Which suggests to me that two of them held him down whilst the third raped him.

My heart goes out to Stuart's father and family. It's awful to lose someone, but to do so in such awful circumstances and still not have the comfort of justice after all these years must feel unbearable.

I have zero sympathy for Barrymore. I think he was involved, but even if he wasn't he will know exactly what happened. All of his actions - lying, running away, sending his PA in to 'tidy up', the 'me me me' self-pity without a thought for Stuart - are revolting and indicative of a nasty little man who only cares for himself.

I sincerely hope that Barrymore ends his days alone, irrelevant and preferably behind bars for the part he played in Stuart's murder.

Noconceptofnormal · 07/02/2020 09:27

I haven't seen the documentary yet but I do remember this, and my recollection of the media reporting at the time was that he had drowned in Barrymore's pool and the injuries / rape side was not really highlighted. All sounds like a huge whitewash.

category12 · 07/02/2020 09:33

I wonder if a couple of other people got in through the grounds and caught Stuart unawares.

Oh come off it.

Suzysleep · 07/02/2020 09:35

Until this week I had always thought that Stuart had drowned - I was young when it happened but remember that that's what was reported on the news at the time. I've never had any sympathy for MB as he's so odious and made a man's death all about him but had thought his career as a family entertainer was ruined by the association with drug fuelled orgies and the stigma of coming out as gay at that time (not that long ago but a world away in terms of attitudes). This has totally changed my perspective. The fact he's never provided any alternative scenario for Stuart's death or implicated anyone else speaks volumes. IMO he and at least 2 other men restrained and raped Stuart, leading to his death. The fact no one who was present had ever spoken out suggests they were all witnesses and complicit in the clean up - it's certainly odd that no one has implicated anyone else in a group of 8 people, some of whom had never met before that night it seems. I really hope this documentary kickstarts a series of events leading to justice, answers and some peace for Stuart's poor family.

MarthasGinYard · 07/02/2020 09:42

'It's all quite horrible. I wonder if a couple of other people got in through the grounds and caught Stuart unawares. Such things do happen.'

Yeah probably

Mariagatzs12 · 07/02/2020 09:43

I had never heard of this dude until yesterday. I don't think he's necessarily guilty but he obviously knows a lot more than what he's declaring

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 07/02/2020 09:47

He knows what happened whether or not he actively participated. It is unlikely that one person was the attacker given the nature of the injuries. Also how likely is it that Stuart Lubbock was completely silent during the attack. Was everyone there deaf as well as blind?

NemophilistRebel · 07/02/2020 09:48

Of all the true crime dramas I’ve seen where cases are left open/unsolved or unsatisfactory verdicts it always seems to be down to mistakes made in the initial investigation

It’s such a worry and I really hope lessons are learnt from these things .

Does anyone really think Barrymore is 100% innocent?!

MissusAverage · 07/02/2020 09:56

‘An anal thermometer was inserted many times’

Was it? Isn’t it thought that it was a (much, much bulkier) pool thermometer or potentially a door handle? Both were removed from the scene by MB’s assistant.

If it was a rectal thermometer, who uses a rectal thermometer to revive someone? No one. Plus, they are small thin devices, you could do someone harm handling them roughly but his injuries didn’t suggest that he was injured in that way by that sort of device.

I think the stigma around homosexuality mentioned by @Suzysleep is a valid point. Not necessarily around MB but around definitely around Stuart and how his case was handled and viewed at the time. I think it was just assumed by a lot of the public that this was a distasteful ‘gay thing’ that went wrong and as such it wasn’t dug into that deeply at the time. I do think some of the public attitude around MB from family man to gay party boy was homophobic but then his behaviour in the aftermath further convinced the public that he wasn’t a Good Guy. His public ‘showbiz’ persona was a very well fixed, and possibly sinister, mask that couldn’t be trusted.

Pulpfiction1 · 07/02/2020 09:56

There's another doc on the murder. Few more facts that weren't in the channel 4 doc.

The pool was near freezing and had not been open for swimming as it was still winter. Barrymore lied and said it had been open for swimming and had been heated up for the "party".
Barrymore bf was known to be a violent man and they had rowed that night.
One of the women said in her statement that she had heard a discussion about a rape. The women also said he cleared stuff out of the house and left with a bundle under his arm before the ambulance got there.

It seems to me the women didn't know the full story but wanted to talk. But they were silenced. There is also suspicion that the first pathologist was corrupt.

labazsisgoingmad · 07/02/2020 09:59

apparently barrymore ran when the man was found the other people there have refused to say much about what happened barrymore has complied with police all through so i suppose as he is the only one who has been honest then he gets all the flak. trouble is being in the public eye any whiff of scandal ruins careers whether it is a pop star tv star or politician. the man who died was raped assaulted with blunt instruments and drowned whether by accident or to cover up the incident. i think there were 4 or 5 people there including so i read including a man which was odd considering what type of party it was

Suzysleep · 07/02/2020 10:03

@Pulpfiction1 - is the other documentary available anywhere?

Flip

1 2 ··· 5 6 7 ··· 23 24