I FEAR WE'LL NEVER GET JUSTICE FOR STUART NOW

Brother of Barrymore pool riddle man after death of doc who botched probe

- JOHN SIDDLE

THE blundering pathologist who missed vital evidence in the Michael Barrymore pool death mystery has died, raising fears that the case may never be solved.

The family of tragic Stuart Lubbock - who was found dead at a late-night party at the Strike It Lucky presenter's home in 2001 - now believe no one will ever be brought to justice for his death.

Dr Michael Heath's postmortem determined Stuart, 37, had drowned.

But later tests showed he had marks on his face indicating asphyxia, possibly from an arm clamped round his throat during a sexual assault.

Dr Heath's failure to link that to the cause of death meant vital weeks were missed in the police probe.

He went on to be discredited over his handling of other cases and was under investigation by the General Medical Council at the time of his death.

Mr Lubbock's brother Kevin, 55, last night said: "Dr Heath should have been struck off years ago. Instead, his slapdash judgments led to many wrong decisions at inquests, notably Stuart's.