The father of a man found dead at Michael Barrymore’s home is considering suing police after a report showed a catalogue of blunders in their investigation.
 
Terry Lubbock says he may sue Essex Police over their blunders

Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found dead in the TV star’s swimming pool after a drug-fuelled party in 2001.

But it has taken a whole eight years to confirm his father Terry’s suspicions that Essex Police botched the investigation – as it turned out, by losing vital evidence and failing to carry out forensic tests.

Investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission upheld six of his 36 complaints against the force, and two senior officers have been disciplined.

Mr Lubbock, from Harlow, Essex, is now looking at mounting legal action against the force for “negligence”.

He says he would use any pay-out to hire private detectives in a bid to find out exactly what happened that night.

“It’s not about the money, it’s about justice for my son Stuart,” the 64-year-old told Sky News Online.
 
Stuart Lubbock, Michael Barrymore

“If the police had done their job properly, people would have ended up in court and there would have probably been convictions for his killer or killers.

“So any money that we make if we go down that route will be used to track down the people that murdered him. Because they are still out there, and it’s time for them to come clean in a court.”

Senior officers visited Mr Lubbock’s home to deliver a personal apology a day before the IPCC report showed a catalogue of blunders in Essex Police’s investigation.

Two pieces of key evidence – a pool thermometer and a door handle – went missing, and no forensic tests were carried out on a baseball cap found in the pool.

Police also used pathologist Dr Michael Heath to carry out the first post-mortem, knowing there were doubts over his competence, and the decision to close the investigation was deemed “premature”.

The meat factory worker was found with severe anal injuries and may have been raped.

Mr Lubbock believes the pool thermometer mentioned in the report was used to sexually assault him.
 
The missing evidence

But officers only realised the 12-inch plastic instrument was missing after IPCC deputy senior investigator Adrian Tapp spotted it when he enlarged one of the photos of the scene.

However, given the passage of time, experts say even if the object was found it would be unlikely to offer any forensic clues.

The 142-page report does not uphold any claims of corruption against Essex Police, but it does show a series of basic errors like failing to properly seal off the house and allowing people to go in and out of the scene unchecked.

Investigators dismissed claims that the first officers at the scene were “star-struck” after finding themselves at the home of a man who was then one of Britain’s biggest TV personalities.

Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt described the report as a “small victory” for Mr Lubbock – and a vindication of his long-held beliefs that the initial investigation was flawed.

“But for Essex Police, it’s still good news in a sense, it’s slightly damaging of their reputation,” he added.

“But at least they have been cleared of wholesale incompetence, but it does leave a lot of questions still unanswered.”