Search: Police Lubbock apology
A police force has apologised to the father of a butcher found dead in the swimming pool of entertainer Michael Barrymore's home, sources said.
Stuart Lubbock, 31, of Harlow, Essex, died in March 2001 after attending a party at Mr Barrymore's then home, in Roydon, Essex.
A report by the police watchdog is believed to have identified failings in Essex Police's initial inquiry into Mr Lubbock's death.
And sources said the force had apologised to Mr Lubbock's father, Terry, for mistakes made in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Mr Lubbock senior, 64, said police had visited his Harlow home to personally apologise. "I'm happy in a way," he said. "But it's a hollow apology because the perpetrators of my son's murder are still out there. If the police had done their job properly in the first place I believe people would be in the dock charged with his murder. To that end it's a hollow apology but I will accept it for what it's worth."
Mr Lubbock said the officers were not able to reveal the reasons for their apology ahead of the publication of the Independent Police Complaints Commission's (IPCC) report.
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The IPCC began an inquiry in March 2007 after receiving complaints from Mr Lubbock senior. He claimed the probe had failed to find how his son died and also accused officers of incompetence.
No one has ever been charged in connection with Stuart Lubbock's death.
Post-mortem tests showed he had suffered severe internal injuries which suggested sexual assault. Ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol were found in his bloodstream.
A coroner recorded an open verdict into his death following an inquest in September 2002. In June 2007, Mr Barrymore, 56, who was living in London at the time, and two other men were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and murder but later released without charge. Afterwards, Barrymore's lawyer, Henri Brandman, said the star had "always protested his innocence".
