Counsellor claims Barrymore swam in his pool

THE former drugs counsellor of Michael Barrymore has said he saw the entertainer swimming in the pool in which partygoer Stuart Lubbock was found dead.

Mr Lubbock, 31, died at Mr Barrymore's home in Roydon, Essex, in March 2001 at an impromptu party.

An open verdict was recorded at the inquest into Mr Lubbock's death last month.

Mr Barrymore has insisted he played no part in the death of Mr Lubbock, who was found floating in his swimming pool at his home in Roydon, Essex, in March 2001.

Barrymore gave his first interview this week since the inquest.

The star told an inquest into the death of Mr Lubbock that he could not jump into the pool to save him because he could not swim.

But David Benson, who met him at a Cocaine Anonymous meeting in Malibu, Florida, told GMTV he had seen Mr Barrymore in the pool while he was staying at the star's home after Mr Lubbock's death.

Mr Benson said he was at the entertainer's home in Roydon when Mr Barrymore remarked that he would be "the first person to get into the pool since Stuart died".

"And then he took his bathrobe off and jumped into the shallow end and went into the deep end," he said.

Mr Benson said he was willing to speak to police about what he had seen, saying he was speaking out of concern for the entertainer.

"I'm disappointed that he stood up in court and lied, that he lied in court. It embarrassed me," he said.

"The way it's going now is that Michael's acting the way he was when he was using drugs."

The cause of Mr Lubbock's death has not been established

"I know it sounds strange that I'm saying he's a liar but if he doesn't face up to his responsibilities he's never going to get well."

Following the interview, a spokeswoman for Essex police said: "The perjury inquiry is ongoing and the original investigation into Stuart Lubbock's death has never finished.

"Anybody who has any information that could help us take it forward should contact police."

Mr Barrymore's solicitor David Corker hit back at the new allegations.

"Michael Barrymore has told me repeatedly and consistently ... that he cannot swim," Mr Corker said. "Whether he can or can't swim has nothing to do with how Stuart Lubbock died."

Mr Barrymore's estranged wife Cheryl also told the inquest that her former husband could swim, and that she had regularly seen him administer drugs to others.

But he denied these claims in his first television interview since the inquest with GMTV's Fiona Phillips.

"If I could have swum I would have jumped in and got Stuart out, but I doubt that would have saved his life," he said. The implication is 'well, that's another minute'. I don't think so."