Yes. I mean the homophobia and far right politics isn't all I was referencing. I'd never heard of him before you posted the link and I started down a rabbit hole. But he seems to have had to abandon his career as a solicitor due to being found "guilty of conduct unbefitting a solicitor" and was found guilty of contempt of court during his legal wranglings with the McCanns. So generally a slippery character in addition to having deeply unsavoury views. But of course that doesn't mean everything he's saying is wrong. Just that I'd exercise caution personally and want to see corroborating evidence as he seems to both be dishonest and have an agenda.
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Yeah, I hadn't heard of him either until I saw reference to his book on Twitter and did some reading.
I can see the link that was posted (not by me BTW!) was from some anti-McCann conspiracy theory site, Jill Havern (which I'd not heard of before) - I don't know if he runs or has links to this site?
I do tend to step away when I see sites like this, it all just seems a little in the realms of Q-Anon etc and not a rabbit hole I want to go down!
I have just read quite a lot on the Stuart Lubbock case over the years as I always thought there was something very off about it (I remember being incensed when Barrymore went into the Big Brother house back in 2006).
The Channel 4 documentary last year really opened my eyes as it became clear that the case was still being actively investigated and the assertion by the current SIO on the case that Stuart was definitely raped and murdered by one or more people at the house that night, followed by the list of 8 names, really did seem to suggest that the police do now have a great deal of credible evidence about what happened.
I completely agree that we should be careful over the sources of information posted online, particularly where there is a live police investigation ongoing. I think it seems, in the case of Tony Bennett, that he does refer to and directly quote witness statements and court documents which are eye-opening enough on their own; it is just that his unpleasant personal attitudes and dubious professional conduct muddy the waters once that's thrown into the mix.
So many high-profile mysteries/cover-ups/miscarriages of justice do unfortunately (particularly in this day and age of self-appointed Web sleuths) get hijacked by people with all sorts of agendas but, on balance, I do think, particularly in view of what has since come to light from the police themselves, there is some validity to this person's theories on the case though I would agree that, caution should be exercised.
I think it's out of print so maybe some chancer trying their luck- though I can't see anyone actually paying that
.Coincidentally, I follow Terry Lubbock's campaign for justice on Facebook and he's just shared this Guardian article from 2009 which references Tony Bennett.
The G2 interview: Decca Aitkenhead meets Terry Lubbock, whose son was found dead in Michael Barrymore's swimming pool
Decca Aitkenhead meets Terry Lubbock, whose son was found dead in the entertainer's pool
www.theguardian.com
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Man, 50, arrested over man's murder at Michael Barrymore's home released
A MAN arrested on suspicion of murder over Stuart Lubbock’s death at Michael Barrymore’s home 20 years ago has been released under investigation by police. The 50-year-old suspect, who …
www.thesun.co.uk
Still not being named (although it seems pretty obvious who it was) and been released for now.
This is like the Stephen Lawrence case. The police definitely know who did it but have no evidence.
So he was originally bailed until 12th April, but bail has a 28 day limit. Evidently the police still suspect him but have changed the status to "released under investigation" as they need more time.Man, 50, arrested over man's murder at Michael Barrymore's home released
A MAN arrested on suspicion of murder over Stuart Lubbock’s death at Michael Barrymore’s home 20 years ago has been released under investigation by police. The 50-year-old suspect, who …
Still not being named (although it seems pretty obvious who it was) and been released for now.
This must be agony for Stuart's poor dad, Terry. You'd think that one person there that night would step up and help to give him the peace he needs before he dies. Maybe they have but it all has to go through 'due process' because the b*stards who contributed to Stuart Lubbock's death are too much self-preserving cowards to own up.
Exactly. It breaks my heart to think of that poor man going to his grave with no resolution to this and his son's killer(s) still walking free. This has consumed his life for the past 20 years and there are 8 people who are still keeping quiet, knowing what happened and choosing to stay silent.
Then you have Michael Barrymore bleating over his ruined career, saying he has done everything that he can to help with the investigation, when he has done everything BUT help - he's even blocked Stuart's family on social media yet claims in interviews that he's keen to work with them.
The person (people) who committed this crime are evil but those who have covered up are almost as bad. They have tortured Terry Lubbock for the past 20 years just as much as Stuart was tortured that night.
I find the ruined career comments very distasteful. As if any decent person would complain about this when someone has lost their life.
To me, these comments say it all about Barrymore. I've always had the sense that he deeply resents Stuart and views him and his family as a massive inconvenience. He has even accused Terry Lubbock of being "addicted to the notoriety" and of "selling story after story to the tabloids", accusing him of profiting even though any money paid to Terry has gone towards his campaign for justice.
Barrymore truly believes himself to be the victim in all of this. He is a vain, self-centred and utterly narcissistic individual and the contempt he has shown for the Lubbock family is sickening.
Barrymore knows exactly what happened, there’s no way that at a small house party, where he was the homeowner, he doesn’t know what happened. They’ve all agreed between them to deny everything. This happened long before mobile phones featured heavily in our everyday lives so there’s no text messages or video footage. But one or more of them is the guilty party and the denial and coverup makes them all as bad as one another. I hope for the sake of Stuart’s family that the police get to charge whoever was responsible.
Surely the Police can tear through their stories?? there weren't many of them there and at least one of them killed him for God's sake. Am I being naive to think a good interrogator could get to the truth?
As mentioned upthread I think they know who it is they just need concrete evidence. Let’s hope they get it.
I agree but surely if they got them all in one would give something tiny away to allow an experienced detective a way in. If enough of them pointed the figure to the same person/people that would be enough to put pressure on. I can’t stand Barrymore.
I think the problem is that without a proper confession of guilt, they don't have enough evidence to secure a prosecution given the forensics were fumbled and evidence allowed to disappear from the original crime scene right at the start of this. They probably know exactly who did it (this Jonathon Kenney character currently being bailed, basically), but cannot put together a case that meets the legal standard for prosecution. So as long as nobody admits anything, they won't charge anyone because CPS will reject the case, and the guilty parties have all been advised on this and know as long as they admit nothing, they're safe.
It's really and truly a sad and disgusting case, where celebrity was allowed to cloud judgement and give the criminals involved enough time to obfuscate the details and remove evidence from the scene. It's utterly infuriating that this crime has to be prosecuted knowing the vital evidence that would alone likely result in a guilty verdict (the pool thermometer and door handle that were removed from the scene, and god knows what Barrymore took away in his little bag too) will never be found.
And let's not forget that two young girls have had to grow up without their father, as well as hear the allegations that he died during a gay sex game gone wrong. Stuart's brother, with whom he was out that night but who wasn't invited to the party, said that he was excited at being invited to a celebrity's house and to be able to tell all his pals about it later; it was one of the young women who actually passed on the invitation so Stuart wouldn't have been thinking about the possibility of a sexual assault on himself.
Exactly this! I believe the police thought they had enough back in 2007 when Kenney, Barrymore and Justin Merritt were all arrested but the CPS didn't feel the case was strong enough to successfully prosecute them. And I'm pretty certain all three would have gone "no comment" throughout their interviews, they all have too much to lose.
I do think this time around the police have gathered much more evidence but that they want to ensure their case is watertight before presenting anything to the CPS for fear of the same thing happening. This, I imagine, is their last roll of the dice so they need to get it right.
They have previously stated that they firmly believe that only Barrymore, Kenney and/or Merritt could possibly have been responsible-either one, two or all three of them. When there were two other men also present that night this assertion strikes me as interesting - the police definitely know something that they aren't revealing, there must be considerable certainty for them to narrow it down so specifically.
I sincerely hope that this time they are just ensuring that no stone is left unturned, and every i is dotted and every t crossed so that they can be as sure as they can of securing a conviction.
Big house, very easy for him to have no knowledge of what happened. No doubt one or more guest know but Barrymore may have absolutely no idea what occurred.
I'm not a fan of trial by social media but if and when he's charged and found guilty I'll be the first to dive in with a virtual assassination, until then I won't speculate on what might or might not have happened that awful evening. If he is eventually exonerated there will be a lot of online folk who owe him an apology thats for sure.
The house isn't that big, it is a 5 bedroom bungalow. I find it impossible to believe that anyone could have been present and not had some awareness of what went on.
Plus Barrymore himself stated in an interview with Piers Morgan for GQ Magazine that he knew people who were hiding secrets from that night but would not reveal their names. Also, if he really knows nothing, why is he so adamant that it was an accidental drowning? How can he be so sure of this if he has absolutely no idea what happened?
He will have been present for the aftermath at least if not when poor Stuart died. There must have been a discussion about what to do and a group of drunk people wouldn't have done that quietly.
Have you seen the Ariel photos of the home, it ain't small, guest would be spread out so impossible to monitor them all all of the time. I've had parties and only found out that a couple had been boffing in my bed, puffing on a bong in the garden etc Its quite plausible that he had no idea what happened. You have your view and I have mine but I'm certainly not going to accuse him of wrong doing until the police charge him and he's found guilty which I believe is a fair stance to take.