BRITAIN:The troubled career of British entertainer Michael Barrymore was plunged into fresh turmoil yesterday as he was arrested by Essex police on suspicion that he sexually assaulted and murdered the 31-year-old found dead in his swimming pool six years ago.
Barrymore was one of three men detained by detectives after a re-examination of the death of Stuart Lubbock, a butcher who followed the entertainer and a group of friends home after meeting them in a nightclub.
It is understood that the other two were Jonathan Kenny (37), Mr Barrymore's former lover, and Justin Merritt (32).
Mr Barrymore was arrested in London, having recently returned to Britain from New Zealand.
All three were taken to the same undisclosed Essex police station and, after questioning throughout the day, were held overnight.
The arrests were welcomed by Mr Lubbock's relatives, who believe he was the victim of foul play and have claimed that Mr Barrymore knows more than he has so far told police. Notably, they doubt that Mr Lubbock met his death in the pool and say he was thrown in after an assault.
His father, Terry (62), said: "It feels like the end of a long struggle."
No representative of Mr Barrymore was available for comment yesterday but he has always denied wrongdoing, claiming that he left the mansion soon after the body was discovered by others at his party.
The entertainer and the same two men were arrested and bailed in connection with the death in 2001 but were not charged. Mr Barrymore (55) received a caution for cannabis possession.
An inquest a year later heard that Mr Lubbock died with "a significant level of alcohol and drugs in his system" but had also sustained serious and unexplained anal injuries.