Open verdict on partygoer found dead at star's home

The death of a young man in Michael Barrymore's pool may never be explained after an apparent wall of silence led the coroner to record an open verdict yesterday.

As Detective Chief Superintendent Ian McNeill said the verdict left the door open for a possible reinvestigation of the death, he said witnesses had been "controlled" in their statements.

Clad only in his boxer shorts, Stuart Lubbock, a "bubbly partygoer", was found at the bottom of the entertainer's pool with a cocktail of drink and drugs in his system. Pathologists discovered severe anal injuries which some said were consistent with a sexual assault.

When questioned by police, few of the revellers with whom Mr Lubbock had spent his last hours could even remember his name.

Returning an open verdict and recording the cause of death as "unascertained", Essex and Thurrock coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said: "None of these witnesses who were party guests for three hours have given to this court an explanation about how Stuart Lubbock, a previously fit 31-year-old, should be found floating in a swimming pool at the premises with a significant level of alcohol and drugs in his system and have serious anal injuries."

Detective Chief Superintendent McNeill, who led the investigation, said: "Although there is no investigation currently ongoing, this outcome allows the police to act on any new information that comes to light."

He added: "The investigation has been very problematic. We have not had a coherent and consistent account from those who were at the party."

Asked whether he thought witnesses had created a wall of silence, Mr McNeill said they had been initially "controlled" in their statements.

The family's solicitor, Peter Richards, said last night that they felt that a wall of silence had prevented the truth from coming out. "They have heard the comments made, heard the evidence from Monday to Friday and come to the same conclusion as everyone else," he said. "The witnesses said nothing which helped the coroner to reach a decision."

In a statement through Mr Richards, Mr Lubbock's family said that "although disappointed" they "drew comfort from the fact that the Essex police file – Operation Hawthorn – is not closed".

Barrymore's solicitor, David Corker, said: "Not a single witness, be they expert witness, party guest or any other, has said that Mr Barrymore played any part in how [Mr Lubbock] met his death in the swimming pool that night."

There had been no evidence to support claims of a "cover-up", he added.

Despite Mrs Beasley-Murray's initial assurances that the inquest into the meat factory worker's death would not focus on "people's social and sexual activities", the hearing laid bare one of the most miserable moments in the entertainer's famously turbulent career.

The court heard how Barrymore, 50, "worse for wear" after drinking at a Harlow night club, had invited a crowd of people – very few of whom he actually knew – back to his luxury home in Roydon.

In the early hours of the morning, with the music turned up and the drinks flowing freely, the guests alternated between the Jacuzzi and various rooms or bedrooms in the house. While Barrymore refused to answer questions at the inquest in Epping about the use of drugs in his home, several party guests described how he was passing round cocaine. Brother and sister Kylie and Justin Merritt even suggested that that he had stuck a white-powdered finger in Mr Lubbock's mouth against his will, although Barrymore's barrister, Michael Mansfield QC, claimed they had fabricated the story after being offered £30,000 by the News of the World.

Each guest told the inquest that Mr Lubbbock appeared to be enjoying the party but not one had seen or heard anything which could offer any explanation for his injuries.

It was not until just before 6am that the father-of-two was found, lying face up at the bottom of the pool, by Barrymore and guests Simon Shaw and James Futters. The television host fled the house in a "panic" after the "nightmare" discovery before calling what his friends assumed was his "PR man".

Mr Lubbock was declared dead just after 8am on 31 March last year – the day he was due to pick up his two daughters for a visit.

The young man's mother Dorothy, father Terry, brother Kevin and former partner Claire Wickes sat throughout the inquest, listening to harrowing details of his death. While pathologists deemed drowning was the most likely cause of death, the family heard how tests revealed a considerable amount of alcohol, ecstasy and cocaine in his system.

They also heard other experts describe severe anal injuries as signs of a serious sexual assault with a large fist-sized object.

"It was established that a violent assault had taken place but we were unable to establish who was responsible for those injuries [to Mr Lubbock] or his death," Detective Chief Superintendent McNeill told the inquest. Without witness evidence, he decided to suspend the criminal investigation.

Barrymore was later cautioned by police for possession of cannabis and allowing his premises to be used for smoking the drug. His then boyfriend, Jonathan Kenney, 31, and guest Mr Merritt, 26, were arrested on suspicion of murder but released without charge.