Tardis-like hidden house in Knightsbridge once home to ‘airhead’ Donna Air – who once amusingly asked The Corrs: “Where did you all meet?” – for sale for £14.5 million (or 383% more than it was ‘worth’ in 2003)
Update, Thursday 4th April 2024 – Internal images removed at insistence of Annabel Edney, associate PR, Savills.
The ‘cheap wing’ of one of Knightsbridge’s landmark churches, St Saviour’s, has gone on sale for a not-insubstantial sum of £14.5 million after the more ‘expensive wing’ was marketed for the very punchy sum of £55 million in 2019 and the still somewhat punchy sum of £44 million in 2020.
The deceptively Tardis-like Hastings House in Walton Street is a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ home from the pavement. It is entered through a small door to the side of a church that was reduced in size to accommodate the vast 12,102 square foot St Saviour’s House and the new-build in 1999 property of 5,261 square foot now offered by agents Savills.
Actress and presenter Donna Air – who once hilariously asked the siblings that formed The Corrs: “Where did you all meet?” during an interview – numbers amongst the well-known ‘names’ to have lived in the house. This likeable lady shared the property with her wealthy conservationist then partner Damian Aspinall and even operated her even more hilariously named company (since dissolved) Airhead And Money Limited from the address.
Occupied also variously by a fast-living, Bugatti driving oil trader named Pierre Andurand and the controversial Italian sports manager Pierandrea Semeraro, the three-storey residence is centred around a “serene” private courtyard and includes 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a rather impressive roof terrace.
Savills describe the freehold house as “opulent” and laud “one of the crowning jewels of the residence,” its underground pool, as a “hidden gem” in the basement; perhaps Sharon Corr and her siblings could hold a reunion there.
Actress and presenter Donna Air and conservationist Damian Aspinall with James Middleton – Air’s partner between 2013 and 2018 – and Victoria Fisher – whom Aspinall married in 2016. Aspinall and Air were an item between 2000 and 2007. Donna Air’s most famous moment on the telly box was summed up in an interview with Sharon Corr of the Celtic pop band The Corrs. Of the encounter, Corr stated: “We did a live television interview with Donna Air. Her opening question was: ‘So, where did you all meet?’ I looked at my brother and sisters and our hearts sank. If that was the opening question, it could only go downhill from there. It was clear that she knew absolutely nothing about us.”Oil trading tycoon Pierre Andurand and sports tycoon Pierandrea Semeraro have also both been listed at the address in Companies House records. How long each of the men lived at the property is unknown.
The Names & Numbers – Hastings House, Walton Place, Knightsbridge, London, SW3 1SA, United Kingdom
March 2024 – Offered for sale as an “ultra-cool freehold house” by William Duckworth-Chad and Alex Christian of Savills for £14.5 million ($18.3 million, €17 million or درهم67.2 million) – an asking price 123% higher than the asking price 20 years ago in March 2004 and 383% higher than the quoted worth in May 2003 – and described by Robb Report’s Abigail Montanez as a “stately London home hiding in plain sight… in the affluent Knightsbridge neighbourhood.”
April 2012 – Richard Compton Miller for The Standard bizarrely contradicts previous evidence and suggests Damian Aspinall and Donna Air “recently moved into [the] converted church.” It can only be assumed he was regurgitating somewhat outdated parish news.
April 2010 – Listed as the address of French “entrepreneur” Pierre Andurand on his appointment as a director of Andurand Events Limited company. The company ultimately was dissolved on 28th June 2011 after a compulsory strike-off.
Aixe-en-Provence born Mr Andurand is listed on Wikipedia as a “businessman and hedge fund manager” who was educated at the University of Oxford. This twice married “leader” of Andurand Capital has variously been listed as a “star trader,” an “oil trading wildcard” and someone who operates with “no set risk limits.” World Top Investors list this kickboxing enthusiast as “the comeback kid, the hotshot trader living the jock-bro dream, driving a Bugatti supercar, a Knightsbridge townhouse, and a trophy wife Russian model.”
23rd January 2007 – A planning application submitted by the Italian sports manager Pierandrea Semeraro concerning the property is approved.
Mr Semeraro is listed on Wikipedia as having been the president of the Sports Union Lecce from 2006 to 2010. He was subsequently banned and disqualified after an investigation into a football betting scandal.
November 2006 – Planning application submitted to make various alterations to Hastings House by a firm named Stanhope Gate including the addition of skylights.
April 2004 – Described by the Daily Mail’s Adam Helliker as being the “weekday… converted church” home where “daughter of a bus mechanic from Newcastle” who “has, by all accounts, rather taken to the life of luxury” Donna Air “busies herself with acting lessons, acupuncture, shiatsu and stints with her personal trainer.”
March 2004 – Featured once again by The Observer’s Ben Flanagan after going on sale for the far higher than he’d previously mentioned sum of £6.5 million ($8.2 million, €7.6 million or درهم30.1 million) through the rather ritzy realtors Aylesford.
Of it, Flanagan enthused:
“Behind a discreet doorway on an exclusive Knightsbridge street lies this 5,250 sq ft home, which the estate agent describes as ‘one of London’s hidden gems.’”
“You’d never guess the house was built in the 1990s as you wander through its elegant Italianate central courtyard to the neo-classical cloisters and drawing room. One clue, however, is the basement swimming pool and bar, which has a more modern – if a little Footballers’ Wives – look… ‘There’s an amazing ‘party pad’ feel to it,’ says a spokesman.”
May 2003 – Described by The Observer’s Ben Flanagan as worth £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم13.9 million) in a feature that mentions it being the home of actress Donna Air and zoo owning tycoon Damian Aspinall.
28th July 2000 – Listed as the correspondence address of “presenter” Donna Air’s amusingly named “radio and television activities” company, Airhead And Money Limited. The company ultimately was dissolved on 1st March 2011 after a compulsory strike-off.
4th September 1998 – Full planning permission granted for the construction of Hastings House by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. Of the planning history of the unlisted property then to be constructed, the council noted separately: “The subject site was formerly included within the ground of the St Saviour’s Church, which is a listed building, however following planning permission which was granted in August 1997 for the erection of the subject building, the subject site has been formally renumbered in 2001 as Hastings House and is considered as a separate planning unit to St Saviours Church.”
Compact yet cosy, the main attraction here is a 22-foot length sitting room with an inglenook fireplace and bread oven at one end and a natural stone fireplace at the other. It also includes a kitchen with a Rangemaster oven, a study and would make an ideal Airbnb given its proximity to Glastonbury and its annual festival.
Another ‘chocolate box’ cottage comes in the form of Court Cottage – an 18th century detached property in a “highly regarded south Suffolk village” near Bury St Edmunds where one of Margaret Thatcher’s most trusted political advisers, David Hart, “lived-in-style” prior to his death in 2011.
Offered by Jackson-Stops, this 1,615 square foot thatched building includes 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a “fabulous” dining kitchen, a garage with a room above, an electric car charging point and a lawned garden.
Curiously, the property has a “flying freehold” since the neighbour’s bathroom overhangs the property’s ground floor utility room and a “creeping freehold” since its cellar lies beneath the adjoining property’s living area.
Llangain, Dorstone, Herefordshire –£695,000 ($873,300, €800,500 or درهم3.2 million)
For the same sum, just 3.5 miles from the market town of Hay-on-Wye – famed as “the town of books” – this 18th century restored cottage on ½ acre is available freehold. It is situated close to the Golden Valley village of Dorstone – a settlement best known for its annual sloe gin competition where each year the winner is crowned the ‘Grand Master of the Sloes.’
Llangain, a farmhouse that was derelict from the First World War until 1995, itself has 4 bedrooms and in addition there is a 1-bedroom barn conversion. Agents Knight Frank laud the property as being in a “picturesque setting” and having “amazing views.”
Willow Cottage, Bethersden, Kent – £1.75 million ($2.20 million, €2.01 million or درهم8.07 million)
Situated in a village best known for producing rather ritzy rocking horses for everyone from the late Queen Elizabeth II to Sir Paul McCartney, Willow Cottage is being marketed by Strutt & Parker as having “evolved from the picturesque period cottage at its heart, and from which it derives its somewhat understated name” into an “elegant 4,800 square foot family house.”
Situated on a plot of 16.5 acres and last sold for £400,000 in July 1998, this 5-bedroomed residence comes with a separate 2-bedroomed ‘guest barn’ and also has a tennis court, a swimming pool, stabling, garaging, gardens and paddocks. A “picturesque pond” currently provides opportunity for Wind in the Willows-esque Messing About in a Boat, as our main photograph suggests.
Matthew Steeples takes a look at a £36 million Kensington mansion formerly owned by disgraced business tycoons Alan Bond and Lord Black; its former chatelaine was known for stating “I have an extravagance that know no bounds”
Sir Winston Churchill’s daughter Mary Soames once described the buccaneering businessman and media tycoon Lord Black of Crossharbour as “London’s biggest bore unhung” whilst his wife, Lady Black – better known as the author and journalist Barbara Amiel – was suggested to be just a “rich bitch” by Sarah Sands in a “case for the defence” article in the Independent in October 2006.
“Poster boy for the 80s” turned fraudster and jailbird Alan Bond (1938 – 2015) was an English-Australian businessman equally Marmite-like in being liked or loathed and now a Kensington mansion owned for a time by both subsequently disgraced businessmen is once again for sale.
14 Cottesmore Gardens, formerly known as 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens, was purchased by Alan Bond’s Satellite Group for £7 million in the 1980s and sold by administrators of that business to Conrad Black and his wife for the knockdown sum of just £3.5 million in 1992.
Plain old Mr and Mrs Black (as they then were) lavished further millions – some of which came from the company Hollinger International, Inc., which ultimately resulted in their downfall – on the double fronted 19th century mansion and used it for entertaining on a lavish scale. Guests, including the likes of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Joan Collins, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Goldsmith, James Hanson, Arnold Weinstock, Jacob Rothschild, Peter Mandelson and Tony Blair, were said to flock to the parties they gave there, but in 2005 these gatherings of upto 400 people at a time came to an almighty end.
Forced to sell at a bargain basement price of just £13.1 million on an ask of £17.5 million as the Canadian born billionaire faced jail time in America, Lord and Lady Black’s tenure was over and the residence saw its “arriviste torch” passed to Juan and Adriana Villalonga, a couple described as “a Mexican telecom czar and his beauty-queen wife.” Of what came next, The Globe And Mail’s Paul Waldie pointedly penned in February 2007: “[They] quickly erased many of the features that the Blacks prized.”
Once again for sale as of April 2023, the value of 14 Cottesmore Gardens has again been deemed to have substantially risen. Knight Frank offer the 12,310 square foot, five-storey residence at a punchy price of £36 million and laud it as “imposing” and “presented in good order throughout.” They add that a “pre-planning consultation” has found that further accommodation could be added that would take the internal space to more than 15,000 square feet; business barons with deep pockets only need apply.
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Pictured Top – 54-foot wide 14 Cottesmore Gardens is described by selling agents Knight Frank as “offering lateral living so often requested but so hard to find in central London.” They neglect to mention that with its hedges cut back to the minimum, the place actually looks extremely forlorn.
Flamboyant Lord and Lady Black dressed as Cardinal Richelieu and Marie Antoinette for a party at Kensington Palace in 2000. For a time, the couple employed 17 butlers (if Tom Bower is to be believed) and had two private jets and homes – aside from the 19th Cottesmore Gardens mansion – in New York, Palm Beach and Toronto. “Guests packed into their parties at Cottesmore Gardens,” Bower remarked in his 2006 book the couple, adding: “Amiel was a big spender… Under the control of senior butler Andrew Lightwood, second butler Peter Wilson and a succession of third butlers, Amiel’s life in Kensington had become what her constantly changing staff called ‘bizarre.’ Each recruit was taken by Lightwood on an introductory tour of the house, ending on the roof. ‘Make sure the landing lights are on at all times,’ instructed Lightwood solemnly, ‘because Madame takes off from here on her broomstick looking for cats. She needs the lights to guide her return.’ His face would crack into a smile. ‘Most important, take care that she never sees you. She hates seeing any of us.’ Amiel’s eccentricity demanded that her staff hid whenever she approached, diving into cupboards if necessary, and never entered her quarters when she was present. Every day, all the bed linen was changed and subjected to ‘the penny test.’ A coin was dropped onto the sheets. If it failed to bounce they were not drawn sufficiently tight. Every cushion was arranged to a precise pre-ordained position, and each towel placed exactly as Amiel had predetermined. ‘Andrew!’ she screamed down the telephone on one memorable occasion, ‘the towels are in the wrong place!’ Lightwood, as Amiel knew, was in New York, but he was expected to telephone the staff in the house in London to rectify the error. ‘You f**king pillock!’ she yelled at another member of staff for reading her ‘Daily Mail’ before it was delivered to her.”Barbara Amiel Black (or ‘Lady Black’ as she prefers to be known) in her drawing room at Cottesmore Gardens (pictured). Of her, Sarah Sands on Lord and Lady Black in the ‘Independent’ in October 2006 opined: “Conrad and Barbara in their monstrous, glamorous way, knew how to throw parties. The talk was of geo-politics and hemlines. Nowadays, we scorn their extravagance and doubt the source of their wealth with prune-faced hindsight. Meanwhile, everyone is sucking up to Russians…. Barbara would disingenuously begin her midnight calls to me by saying in her low, breathy voice: ‘I hope I am not disturbing you.’ She would then offer little glimpses of her own home life. I remember her mentioning that Conrad Black was upstairs playing with his fleet of toy gun ships in the bath… I remember her examining an exhibition of doll’s houses at the Chelsea Flower Show and sighing how restful it would be to live in this cosy little home. How she envied people in small houses. The burden of wealth was one of her more dangerous fantasies. At one of her Gatsby-style parties in Kensington, she flinched at the elaborate canapés on offer: ‘Really, all I want is a sausage,’ she said, piteously. Then, she ran a hand down her inconceivably expensive dress and whispered: ‘I hate these parties, I am so shy.’ Later, I was invited to her boudoir, where she lay on cushion surrounded by her women friends. She was Kensington’s Cleopatra, surrounded by maidens such as the designer and Forte daughter Olga Polizzi, the political thinker Tessa Keswick and the writer Miriam Gross.”The very same drawing room at 14 Cottesmore Gardens today. The décor is now somewhat more modern and less ‘classical country house-ified.’ It’s certainly more Soho Farmhouse than Alberto Pinto in style; it is currently a space that the former Meghan Markle would feel more at home than say, perhaps, the likes of Lord and Lady Black’s chum Ghislaine Maxwell and her fellow noxious nonce Ponzi scheming paedophile boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Pinto was responsible, it should be noted, for the designs of most of Epstein’s residences.The front elevation of 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens during the era it was owned by Lord and Lady Black.Multiple entries for Lord and Lady Black during the time they owned 14 Cottesmore Gardens appeared in the ‘Little Black Book’ address book often attributed as being that of the friends and associates of Jeffrey Epstein, but that featured more of the contacts of Ghislaine Maxwell in fact. In October 2020, Barbara Amiel took revenge on the pension pot plunderer’s padeophile sex trafficker daughter by featuring her in her “score-settling” memoir ‘Friends & Enemies: A Life in Vogue, Prison, & Park Avenue.” Maxwell had “dumped” Lady Black when Lord Black was being investigated for fraud. She wrote of their last meeting: “We were friends – so putting on my ‘So good to see you’ face, I headed for her. She bolted. Turned that sharp tight little turn when you really want to get away. And that was it.” Of the clear lover of plastic surgery Lady Black, in October 2020, Sarah Sands remarked in ‘The Mail on Sunday’: “She had a bohemian, almost masculine, view of opportunistic sex. She describes, for instance, accompanying an early love in his white Triumph sports car ‘in which once or twice I had performed fellatio to the fascination of passing truck drivers, all for fun.’”After getting out of the clink in 2012, Lord and Lady Black decided to go back on the ‘razzle-dazzle’ and posed for photographers before heading back to London to party with friends. In May 2019, the rambunctious peer arrogantly announced he’d be returning to the House of Lords after President Donald Trump pardoned and praised him. Commenting, of this pardon, Lord Black declared: “I’m not bitter… Officially in the United States, I’ve never been charged and I won in the end. It was a war and there are casualties in wars. I lost the time, I lost a lot of money, but as you can see my standards of living isn’t bad… The truth is, these, last 15 years, I haven’t been as interested in British politics as I was before – in the Thatcher years. It could be quite interesting again, in fact it is as of right now – it’s very interesting… It’s my good fortune that at a time when it is feasible, it happens – by happy coincidence – that it is a time of great fermentation in British public affairs.” Surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to have turned up on occasions since.The previous owner of 14 Cottesmore Gardens, Alan Bond (1938 – 2015), will forever be remembered as “Australia’s most notorious corporate criminal.” Born in Hammersmith, London, Bond’s first crime occurred when he was charged with theft aged 14 in Fremantle in Australia and whilst he is remembered for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America’s Cup, it is for causing the then biggest corporate collapse in Australian history that he will be go down in history. Former Miss Mexico Adriana Abascal López-Cisneros (at the time Adriana Villalonga) bought the house in 2005. She divorced the Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga in 2009 and married the French businessman Emmanuel Schreder in Ibiza in June 2013. In August 2014, the magazine ‘Quién’ featured the model and television presenter on its cover and at that time she described her new husband as “the love of my life.”Madrid born Juan Villalonga became the joint owner of 14 Cottesmore Gardens with his then wife Adriana Abascal – the couple were married between 2000 and 2009 – in 2005. He is listed on Companies House as being a director of the now dissolved Medikidz Foundation at the address between August 2009 and November 2013. Married since 2011 to a photographer named Vanessa Von Zitewitz, Mr Villalonga was a partner at McKinsey & Company in the 1980s, CEO for Credit Suisse First Boston and Bankers Trust in Spain in the early 1990s and CEO of Telefónica from 1996 to 2000. He was named as one of the best performing chief executive officers in the world by ‘Harvard Business Review’ in 2010 and is also linked to addresses in Monaco.
The Names & Numbers – 14 Cottesmore Gardens (formerly known as ’12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens’), Kensington, London, W8 5PR, United Kingdom
April 2023 – Offered for sale for £36 million ($44.4 million, €40.9 million or درهم163.2 million) through Knight Frank. Valued on Homipi at an upper sum of £28.558 million ($35.250 million, €32.440 million or درهم129.456 million).
2009 – Mr and Mrs Villalonga divorce and subsequently Adriana Abascal married Emmanuel Schreder, a French businessman, in Ibiza in June 2013.
2005 – Sold by Lord and Lady Black for £13.1 million ($16.2 million, €14.9 million or درهم59.4 million) to Spanish businessman Juan Villalonga Navarro and Mexican model, Miss Mexico winner and television presenter Adriana Abascal López-Cisneros Villalonga.
October 2004 – Placed for sale for £17.5 million ($21.6 million, €19.9 million or درهم79.3 million) according to NZ Herald.
January 2004 – Valued at £14 million ($17.3 million, €15.9 million or درهم63.5 million) according to The Globe And Mail. At the time, the “mansion” in “the upscale Kensington neighbourhood” was described as having “10 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and a swimming pool.”
Featured also in The Guardian in an article by Chris Tryhorn. Quoting Lord Black, he shared: “At a certain price, anything is for sale. [It has] been shown to people in the not-too-distant-past.”
Going further, Tryhorn added: “Artwork from the 18th and 19th centuries lines the walls, and there is plenty of storage space for the extensive wardrobe and shoe collection of Lord Black’s wife, Barbara Amiel, who famously declared once that her ‘extravagence knows no bounds.’ … It was originally two homes and one of the two original front doors is now a ‘deliveries’ entrance. He has used it in the past to host dinners with butler and maid service that was part-paid by Hollinger.”
Also in 2004, in a profile in The Spectator, Peter Oborne wrote:
“Every year the Blacks threw two parties, one at Christmas and one summer event, at their double-fronted 11-bedroom mansion in Cottesmore Gardens. Everybody who mattered at the time went: Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Goldsmith, James Hanson, Arnold Weinstock, Jacob Rothschild, royalty, the playwright Tom Stoppard.”
“Some of these, injudiciously as it turned out, agreed to join the main Hollinger board. The luckier ones – Peter Carrington, Robert Salisbury – got away with being made directors of TheTelegraph. As the Tories faded out, Labour ministers started to arrive, the indefatigable Peter Mandelson, David Blunkett and other ministers eager to ingratiate themselves with the Tory press. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent were assiduous in attendance. In London, the Nineties belonged to the Blacks. They were London’s most glamorous power couple.”
“There had been a time when both Blacks had kept their feet on the ground. This ceased to be the case. One evening Barbara Black rang Charles Moore panic-stricken from her Kensington home. There had been a last-minute drop-out from one of the famous Black dinner parties. ‘I’m short of a woman,’ she told Moore. Moore surveyed the newsroom. His gaze alighted on the journalist Eleanor Mills, by chance the stepdaughter of the Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell.”
“An hour later, hastily groomed, made-up and brushed, Mills was sipping pre-dinner drinks in Cottesmore Gardens. Then disaster struck. A male guest, Max Fisher, dropped out. Mills was approached by Conrad Black. ‘Finish your drink and skedaddle,’ he told her. Barbara Black then told her to go to the kitchen and out through the servants’ door, where the driver would pick her up and take her home.”
2001 – Conrad Black is elevated to a life peerage in the United Kingdom at the suggestion of Tony Blair. He sat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords until 2007 as The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour KCSG, but took a “leave of absence” between 2012 and 2019.
28th May 1996 – The Royal Borough of Kensington And Chelsea ordered that 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens “shall be known and described” simply instead as 14 Cottesmore Gardens.
Mid 1990s – The Blacks set about renovating 12 and 14 Cottesmore Gardens with the help of J. E. Evans Associates. Of the work in October 2006, The Sunday Times shared a segment of Tom Bower’s 2006 hatchet job Conrad and Lady Black that read: “Amiel vowed to create a palace that would attract celebrity worshipers of a power couple. Part of the first floor was to be removed to create a huge ground floor reception area.”
1992 – 12 and 14 Cottesmore Gardens sold by the administrators of the affairs of Alan Bond through estate agents Savills to media tycoon Conrad Black and his Watford born journalist wife Barbara Amiel Black for “well under the asking price” for a sum of £3.5 million ($4.3 million, €4 million or درهم15.9 million).
Mr Bond had been granted mortgages valued at £16.2 million ($20 million, €18.4 million or درهم73.5 million) on the property by Bell Satellite Services on the property along with two others at 4 and 16 Belgrave Mews in London, SW1 previously according to a report published by Financial Review in March 1990.
1991 – Rented to an American businessman for £6,000 per week ($7,400, €6,800 or درهم27,200 per week).
1990 – Placed in the hands of administrators of Mr Bond’s and placed for sale through Savills for a bargain basement sum of £3.8 million ($4.7 million, €4.3 million or درهم17.2 million) according to Financial Review.
1980s – Sold to Alan Bond’s Bell Satellite Group for £7 million ($8.6 million, €8 million or درهم31.7 million).
Circa 1905 – Walter Tapper is said to have “designed a library with handsome Arts and Crafts plasterwork (now removed) at the rear of the building.”
1869 – In their current marketing blurb, Knight Frank suggest: “There has been a house on the site of 12 – 14 Cottesmore Gardens since at least 1869. The current house has been altered, extended and most notably joined over the subsequent century and a half. With the local planning department strongly opposed to further amalgamation of homes, opportunities to acquire a house of this width will be rarer still in the future.”
1850s to 1860s – Built “under the direction of David Howell, of Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street.” Mr Howell was described in 1853 as an “articled clerk to a solicitor, lately carrying on business as a solicitor.” The architecture was lauded as: “Designed in a bold classical manner, with rather fleshy consoles and modillions… and bands of Vitruvian scroll between the bases of the ground-floor windows.”
More photographs of the £36 million mansion…
An entrance hall where power and privilege have most certainly mingled previously.The 54-foot wide drawing is lauded by selling realtors Knight Frank as “arguably the best room in the house” and “double aspect.” They add: “[It has] six windows overlooking the street and additional views over the private garden to the rear.”The columns where Barbara Amiel Black once posed for photographs remain, but the subsequent owners eliminated much of the 1990s ‘brash’ that had been installed by a Watford born woman whose excess clearly offended so many.This dining room, where Conrad Black hosted presidents and prime ministers, is now somewhat diminished. The table for eight looks completely out of place and a future owner would do well to install something a little grander.A double height entertaining space was installed at the insistence of the loftier-than-lofty Lady Black in the 1990s and it remains today. However, it is now currently being used for more casual affairs such as Netflix viewing rather than being the scene of something that you’d more likely find in the ‘House of Cards’ in fact.A new owner might reinstate the grandeur of the past; sadly, however, this seems unlikely and the purchaser is more likely to be a footballer or Internet tycoon than a super-connected business tycoon.This currently very dark and very depressing study would most certainly not appeal to the very clearly very, very bright yet very, very pompous The Right Honourable The Lord Black of Crossharbour KCSG – a man who is said to count Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte as “his military heroes.” Of him in July 1997, Mark Honigsbaum in the ‘Independent’ remarked: “Although Black’s grandfather had briefly been a business partner of Harold Harmsworth, the original Viscount Rothermere, it was from his father, George Montegu Black Jr, that Black learned the art of corporate warfare, the importance of historical perspective and that gambling provides a disappointing rate of return compared to the Dow Jones index… The young Conrad was precocious. At the age of eight he sank his life savings of $60 into a single share of General Motors. He also became obsessed with Napoleon, and would astound his father’s friends by reeling off details of campaigns. Another story has him washing dollar bills and hanging them out to dry on a line outside his father’s home in Toronto. The last is apocryphal – Black says he slipped in the mud and was cleaning his change – but the image of the young capitalist, wise beyond his years, is accurate. His childhood tutor, the historian Laurier LaPierre, once asked Black why he always seemed to have the air of someone waiting for something to happen… A few years ago, for instance, the rumour went round Fleet Street that Black had bought Napoleon’s preserved penis at an auction. Black denied it, but many remain convinced that Bonaparte’s body part sits in Black’s collection of military curios… Black is no philanderer and is devoted to his second wife, the former ‘Sunday Times’ columnist Barbara Amiel. They are said to be intellectual soul mates and the parties at their four-storey mansion in Kensington are famous for bringing together a cross-section of the great and good.”One could not imagine the likes of the late great Baroness Thatcher, for example, liking the idea of sitting in this extremely depressing and dark waiting area. A new owner would do well to obliterate a décor scheme that could have only been favoured by a completely colour blind banker.A room currently described as a ‘cinema room’ measures 28’6” by 21’6” and is situated at the rear of the house. One can imagine Conrad Black having sat here for hour upon hour watching historical dramas about Napoleon with the likes of chums such as the acclaimed historian Andrew Roberts, the gambling tycoon John Aspinall and the politician and diarist Alan Clark, but a new owner will be more likely next showing episodes of ‘Succession’ – based on ‘The Telegraph’ tycoon’s rival Rupert Murdoch – than viewing historical works one most definitely suspects.Dining whilst the staff cook would NEVER have been on the agenda in the era that pomposity reigned whilst Lady Black was chatelaine of 14 Cottesmore Gardens.A 2,000 square foot entire floor fit for a tycoon… The master bedroom suite of the house takes up the entirety of the second floor of the building. It incorporates not only the principal bedroom, but also a “his” dressing room and a “her” dressing room as well as a sitting area, a bathroom, a shower room and storage rooms. It has direct lift access and is bigger than the average Brit’s entire house.A dressing room in the house where Barbara Black opened up to ‘Vogue’ and displayed “closets overflowing with dazzling evening gowns, designer handbags and 100 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes. ‘I have an extravagance that knows no bounds,’ she famously declared. Unfortunately for Lady Black, the article was closely perused at investment company Tweedy, Browne, a Hollinger International shareholder.”This playroom certainly did not exist in the era that Lord and Lady Black owned the property. It would be more likely crammed with books or stuffed with Manolo Blahnik shoes than toys from Toys ‘R Us. A new owner may likely reinstate it as an additional bedroom or office or games room perhaps.The pool room measures 43’9” by 26’9” and is no doubt where Lady Black spent many an hour relaxing.The garden to the rear was where Lord and Lady Black hosted their annual summer party (with guests “spilling” into their drawing room also). In surprisingly Tardis-like fashion, the duo were able to supposedly squeeze in upto 400 guests at such occasions. Amongst those said to have enjoyed hospitality there were Joan Collins and of such, magazine publisher Nicholas Coleridge wrote: “If you get a kick out of milling about with present and former prime ministers, cabinet ministers, minor royals, dukes, editors, vastly rich Americans, distinguished historians, gossip columnists, playboys and lots of pretty ‘it’ girls, then this was the place to be.”The existing floor plan of the property illustrates the vast scale of the building offered. A buyer, Knight Frank observe, has additional options and “a pre-planning consultation has been carried out with RBKC by leading architects Studio Indigo.” They add: “[It] would completely reconfigure the house adding an additional basement floor and taking the internal space to more than 15,000 square foot. The resulting house would have a 40-foot by 41-foot south-facing rear garden.”A plan of the site as presented in 1996 when 12 and 14 became known just as 14 Cottesmore Gardens.
In pretentiously posing for pictures as-if-dead, utter berk Michael Barrymore yet again insults the victim of murder at his Essex bungalow Stuart Lubbock; this rotten ratbag should be binned
After yet again illustrating himself as an utter shameless scumbag last August when he shared letters from the late Diana, Princess of Wales, Michael Barrymore has yet again proven himself an utter cretin by filming himself posing as if dead and throwing himself into a bin.
Shared on TikTok, the footage of this feckless fool is nothing but an insult to the victim of the poor father of two murdered at his home on 31st March 2001, Stuart Lubbock.
Responding online, respected journalist Alexis Parr condemned the footage as “weird” whilst others suggested “Michael’s lost it again” might come to be the analysis of this reprehensible ratbag best known for rolling around on the floor off his skull with the convicted racist Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben.
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party.
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to man-up and tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001
Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock. Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also.
Barrymore claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”
Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.
Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.
James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”
Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”
Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body and is now aged 50.
Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”
Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).
Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”
In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.
The disgraced entertainer pictured ‘worshiping’ Sir Jimmy Savile in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in January 2006. Of the late paedophile, at the time, the self-centred ex ‘Strike It Lucky’ host disgustingly declared: “When he came in I was blown away because it’s him and he never lets you down. I didn’t think seeing Jim and hearing Jim talking and being so personal and kind to me. I started to well up in there and thought here we go.”The scene of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB. The property was most recently sold for £1.33 million in 2017 whilst Barrymore had paid £392,500 for it in 1998 and was forced to sell it for £802,000 in 2005 to cover costs related to his bankruptcy.The eight people who went to party on 31st March 2001 who didn’t die. Why won’t any of them tell the truth and why has one of them changed his name?Jonathan Kenney – a now 51-year-old – was the ‘entertainer’s’ lover at the time of the killing. He is now said to be a coach driver, resides supposedly in Cheshire and has most curiously changed his name. One is left wondering why.Michael Barrymore disgustingly pretending to be Hitler (left) and victim of rape and murder at his home, Stuart Lubbock (right).Michael Barrymore pictured rolling around on the floor off-his-skull with the convicted racist bigot Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben.
Michael Barrymore shows no contrition in the wake of the 21st anniversary of the rape-murder of Stuart Lubbock at his home and instead shamelessly returns to TikTok for yet more personal profiteering
Disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore – a man who admits to knowing something but still says nothing that could help bring justice after the 2001 rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock at his Roydon, Essex bungalow – has had an astonishing 178.3 million views on his TikTok page.
On Friday, taking to Twitter, the heartless Bermondsey born 69-year-old known also for rolling around on the floor drunk with the convicted racist bigot Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben, shared what he called “a lovely story” about how he’d met up with a “boy done good” named ‘Christopher.’ He remarked on how he’d met up with this individual 22 years after he’d appeared on his Kids Say The Funniest Things show in 2000 – their first encounter being just months before the assault and killing of a then 31-year-old Lubbock that took place at his very own home.
Bragging first that the TikTok clip of the child he had described on the show as “quite intriguing” had already had 14 million views, the creepy cretin then followed with a second missive featuring images of ‘Christopher’ today – including one of him hugging said individual in London’s Hyde Park. It is nothing but cringeworthy.
Shockingly of this tawdry clip shared just days after the 21st anniversary of Stuart Lubbock’s untimely death, Metro’s Louise Griffin declared: “The presenter shared a very welcome update” before adding: “Fans were thrilled by the unexpected reunion.” In doing so, Griffin simply showed herself to be a reprehensible woman completely lacking in sympathy for the familiies of victims of rape and murder.
Subsequently shared on Saturday by Metro on Facebook with an equally reprehensible quote reading: “Well this is just lovely,” Griffin’s article was met with adulation by some of his fans, but rightly called out by many others. It is shameful and wrong to celebrate this maggot-not-a-man who to this day refuses to cooperate in attempts to get justice for a father-of-two who was brutally slayed at his very own residence.
In June 2019, Barrymore – whom ran away from the scene of the crime before police arrived on that fateful morning in 2001 – arrogantly told Piers Morgan:
“I had nothing to do with Stuart. I am innocent. I am not 99.9% innocent. I am 100% innocent and I am entitled to walk around with my head held high for the rest of my life.”
“I didn’t facilitate him taking drugs. I was advised [to stay silent] by lawyers at the time. You don’t have to answer in a coroner’s court. I can see lots of things in hindsight. I’m not making excuses. I f**ked up. I f**ked up. What more do you want?”
Going further in 2020, Essex Police attempted to rejuvenate interest in the case and pointed out:
“Stuart Lubbock was a young father and much-loved son who remains at the heart of the case. His family want answers and we will continue to do all we can to bring those responsible to justice.”
“On 31st March 2001, nine people attended a party at Michael Barrymore’s house. One of them, Stuart, ended up being violently sexually assaulted at that party.”
“Someone at the party was responsible for what happened. Someone knows that happened. Other people arrived at the scene in the houses after Stuart’s death. Individuals at the party might have told others what happened.”
“We would urge people who do have information to come forward. 19 years is a long time, loyalties change and it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Pictured top – A smugger-than-smug Michael Barrymore with his ‘friend’ Christopher in London in April 2022 (left); Stuart Lubbock, a victim of rape and murder at Barrymore’s then home on 31st March 2001 (right).
The disgraced entertainer pictured ‘worshiping’ Sir Jimmy Savile in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in January 2006. Of the late paedophile, at the time, the self-centred ex ‘Strike It Lucky’ host disgustingly declared: “When he came in I was blown away because it’s him and he never lets you down. I didn’t think seeing Jim and hearing Jim talking and being so personal and kind to me. I started to well up in there and thought here we go.”In typically smug fashion, the Bermondsey born berk made out his TikTok clip to be a “lovely story” whilst not declaring that he simply shares these moronic moments in order to make yet more money. Instead, why doesn’t he do something decent for once in his sorry existence and help get justice for the children and other relatives of the late Stuart Lubbock? Shame on him.Hugging a young man who looks to be about the same age as the victim of rape and murder at his Roydon, Essex bungalow in 2001, Stuart Lubbock, does not make this disgraced ‘entertainer’ appealing in any sense. It just shows him to be still to this day completely out of touch with reality. Shame on him.‘Metro’ reacted to the upload by declaring: “Well this is just lovely.” What on earth is wrong with them? Have they no sympathy with the victims of rape and murder? Shame on them also.Campaigner Karen Blade, a lady clearly dedicated to justice, responded: “Some of the usual ‘bring him back’ and lots of ‘never in a month of Sundays.’ #justice4stuart.” We salute her.Responding to ‘Metro’s’ Facebook post, some shared their thoughts on how much they loved the former TV presenter. Others, rightly pointed out that the man born Michael Parker “has no shame” and that he is an “absolute wrong’un.” One went as far to pointedly ask: “Was [Jimmy] Savile your second favourite presenter by any chance?”Going further, another named Pete Hill suggested: “Charge everyone who was in that house that night. Won’t take long for the truth to come out.” Though that will sadly never occur due to the time lapse and the missing evidence, he is spot on and Daniel Lees, equally, was right to say “shame on you” of ‘Metro’ for “trying to reputation-wash” for the former ITV presenter. The scene of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB. The property was most recently sold for £1.33 million in 2017 whilst Barrymore had paid £392,500 for it in 1998 and was forced to sell it for £802,000 in 2005 to cover costs related to his bankruptcy.Pictured hugging, ‘Christopher,’ a man who is now about the same age as the victim of rape and murder at his home in 2001, Michael Parker should be ashamed of himself. He isn’t and continues to claim his innocence. If so innocent, why doesn’t he come forward and name the names of the men who committed rape and murder on the 31st March 2001 at his Essex bungalow?
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to man-up and tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001
Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock. Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also.
Barrymore claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”
Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.
Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.
James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”
Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”
Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body and is now aged 50.
Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”
Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).
Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”
In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.
The eight people who went to party on 31st March 2001 who didn’t die. Why won’t any of them tell the truth and why has one of them changed his name?Jonathan Kenney – a now 51-year-old – was the ‘entertainer’s’ lover at the time of the killing. He is now said to be a coach driver, resides supposedly in Cheshire and has most curiously changed his name. One is left wondering why.
Elizabeth J. Bond returns to the case of the murder of Stuart Lubbock, debunks myths about what happened that night and slams Michael Barrymore and his shameful supporters
It has recently come to my attention that the disgraced TV personality Michael Barrymore still has a number of high-profile friends and supporters. They include Fiona Phillips who has repeatedly defended him on social media – both before and after the 2020 documentary on the death of Stuart Lubbock at Barrymore’s Essex home aired.
Even worse are boorish broadcasters Alex Belfield and Steve Allen. They have both attacked Stuart’s late father Terry, accusing him of not being able to accept his son was gay and of “droning on” about this tragic case.
Some might say that such comments are best ignored. However, this is the wrong approach to take as Phillips, Belfield and Allen are people with a considerable following and influence. It is also important to debunk certain myths about what happened that night once and for all. These have unfortunately been repeated as gospel in the press and even in the documentary, which did a major disservice to the case by going with The Body in the Pool as a title.
In essence, there are three main facts that everyone should be aware of.
FACT 1 – STUART LUBBOCK WAS NOT FOUND IN THE SWIMMING POOL
A recording of the 999 call to the emergency services can be heard here. It’s an extraordinary thing to listen to, especially the part where the caller moans to the operator that this happened on the one night he’d been out in four years, but please note the following exchange:
Caller: A fella’s drowned in the pool.
Operator: Are they still in the water, there?
Caller: No. We’ve got them out.
Indeed, when the ambulance arrived, the body was lying beside the pool – not actually in it. This means that NO independent witnesses ever saw Stuart in the pool, and we only have the word of Barrymore and the others present that he was found there.
So, can we trust their testimonies as reliable?
The short answer is: “No.”
Virtually none of the witness statements concurred with each other.
To cite a few examples, Barrymore claimed to have found Stuart’s body in the pool, while Simon Shaw stated that he was the one who made the discovery.
Barrymore also asserted in television interviews that he saw Stuart floating face-up. Yet Jonathan Kenney said that Stuart was face-down. At one point, Kenney went on to say that he and Kylie Merritt managed to drag Stuart out of the pool, but Shaw testified that he and James Futers were the people who retrieved the body from the water.
None of this adds up. We must therefore seriously ask ourselves whether Stuart was ever in the pool at all. Or was this a ruse to cover up the true cause of Stuart’s death?
I urge people to stop saying Stuart was found in the pool. Not just because he wasn’t, but also because it’s important to firmly close the door to the idea that Stuart died following a swim which went wrong.
Which brings us to….
FACT 2 – STUART LUBBOCK DID NOT DROWN
Stuart’s body was subjected to a number of examinations. Of those, only the first one conducted by Dr Michael Heath named drowning as a cause of death – perhaps because Heath had (wrongly) been told that Stuart had been found in a pool. However, the authorities were not satisfied with Heath’s conclusions, hence why further post-mortems were ordered.
Indeed, Heath’s competence as a doctor has been called into serious question. As at the time of writing, he is under investigation by the General Medical Council for a catalogue of errors in several other autopsies. In one instance, a family feared that they had been given the wrong body because Heath’s report contained so many mistakes – including mention of a gall bladder, even though the relative in question had hers removed some years prior.
In any event, none of the other pathologists thought that Stuart had drowned. What they did all agree on was that he had suffered horrific internal injuries. For the benefit of Alex Belfield, I’ll state here that Stuart was not gay. On the contrary, he was well-known locally as a “ladies’ man”.
However, even if he had been gay, there is absolutely no way he could have consented to the act which produced those kinds of injuries. The fourth pathologist, Professor Jack Crane believes that they were serious enough to have induced a heart attack and been the real cause of Stuart’s death. Moreover, the second pathologist, Professor Chris Milroy identified ‘petechiae’ on Stuart’s face, which were consistent with restraint and strangulation while the attack was carried out.
I make no claims as to who was responsible for Stuart’s murder, but there is no doubt that the case has been hampered by the guests maintaining a wall of silence about what occurred that night.
And, in particular…
FACT 3 – BARRYMORE HAS DONE NOTHING BUT HINDER THE INVESTIGATION WITH HIS ACTIONS
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Barrymore stated that the Lubbock family deserve proper answers. This is ironic as none have been forthcoming from him. From the very beginning, Barrymore’s antics have obstructed rather than helped the investigation.
Not only did he flee the scene before the emergency services arrived, but he refused to answer any questions at the inquest. Even worse, when Stuart’s internal injuries were revealed, Barrymore insisted that they had not been inflicted at his house, but by a nurse at the hospital. This was subsequently proven to be nonsense – but he succeeded in derailing the inquiry for two years while police had to investigate his ridiculous claim.
That’s before we get on to some of the lies he’s told – from his assertion that he couldn’t swim (strongly denied by his late ex-wife, Cheryl and others) to giving evasive and contradictory responses when asked whether drugs had been taken that night. Or the fact that he actually sued Essex Police for arresting him, in a failed attempt to gain £2.5 million in compensation.
Above all, if Barrymore genuinely wants to help, then why has he blocked everyone who mentions Stuart Lubbock from his social media accounts? This includes the official @Justice4Stuart Twitter account, The Steeple Times, and Stuart’s ex-wife, Sue Homan.
As Sue herself has said, the disgraced entertainer could assist by simply retweeting an appeal for information, but to my knowledge, he has never done so. A look at his Twitter feed reveals a man more obsessed with reviving his career via TikTok than anything else.
Again, I stress that I make no claims as to who exactly is responsible for Stuart’s murder, but I certainly question why anyone would continue to support Barrymore, given his disgraceful behaviour.
The likes of Fiona Phillips, Alex Belfield, Steve Allen equally need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Shame on the lot of them.
The scene of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB. The property was most recently sold for £1.33 million in 2017 whilst Barrymore had paid £392,500 for it in 1998 and was forced to sell it for £802,000 in 2005 to cover costs related to his bankruptcy.
Michael Barrymore’s decision to say nowt about the latest developments in the case of the murder of Stuart Lubbock sums him up as an utterly coward cretin
Michael Barrymore likes pretending to be Hitler and rolling around on the floor with drunken racist bigots like Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben. He also once worshipped the paedophile and abuser of dead bodies Sir Jimmy Savile, but the one thing he’s got nowt to say about is the rape and murder that occurred at his very own home on 31st March 2001.
Yesterday, after being approached for comment by the Mirror about the latest developments in the case of the sadistic killing of Stuart Lubbock at his Roydon, Essex bungalow, Barrymore arrogantly responded: “It’s a terribly sad situation for everybody. I have nothing to say at the moment.”
Today, yet again, we join those reminding this cretinous creep that he invited at least eight people to his residence for a drug fest on that fateful night. One of them was shockingly slayed and he himself ran away before the police even arrived. Michael Barrymore deserves nothing other than repeated shaming whilst his innocent victim’s family still require justice.
A House of Horror – Michael Barrymore’s naff bungalow, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB – where at least two of those he’d invited raped, abused and murdered Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001 – was sold for £1.33 million in 2017. Barrymore had paid £392,500 for it in 1998 and was forced to sell it for £802,000 in 2005 to cover costs related to his bankruptcy.
As Essex Police announce they will not charge the 50-year-old arrested for the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock, Matthew Steeples joins those demanding Michael Barrymore finally man-up and tell the truth
After announcing they will not be charging the 50-year-old arrested in March on suspicion of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock at the home of the disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore, Essex Police’s Detective Chief Superintedent Lucy Morris expressed that “this news was a huge personal disappointment to all detectives involved in this case.”
Frankly, as the victim’s father Terry Lubbock faces death from terminal cancer, this development yet again brings to light the fact of the matter. Nine people were present at the Roydon, Essex bungalow on the night of the murder. One of them died and they died at the hands of one of the five other men present. It is jolly well time that the reprehensible lot of them told the truth and it is jolly well time for justice for Stuart Lubbock.
Michael Barrymore’s continued attempts to rebuild his career without telling what he really knows about what he knows about what went on at his home on 31st March 2001 before he then fled the property before police arrived provides only indication of his sheer arrogance and audacity.The scene of the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock on 31st March 2001: Michael Barrymore’s then home, 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB.Stuart Lubbock’s ex-wife, Sue Homan, tweeted yesterday: “I have no words atm, apart from gutted, absolutely gutted. But, more determined then [sic] ever. If anything, I hope this gets a lot of press coverage. Someone out there has answers, and needs to come forward.”
Justice for Stuart Lubbock – The people who need to tell the truth about what happened at Michael Barrymore’s home on 31st March 2001
Michael Parker (AKA Michael Barrymore) – Allegedly loudly said: “I need a f**k” in a taxi as he left the Millennium Nightclub to return to his home, the scene of the death of Stuart Lubbock. Barrymore later lied to a coroner’s court about facilitating drug taking at his house on the night in question also.
Barrymore claimed to have been first to have discovered the body of Stuart Lubbock at 5.45am, called his manager Mike Brown before the ambulance arrived and then left the premises. He admits that was “wrong” and also bizarrely told Piers Morgan that in spite of “knowing others were hiding secrets about what happened to Mr. Lubbock” that “I am not going to say their names. I just hope they are brave enough to come forward one day.”
Mike Brown – Agent of Michael Barrymore. Called to the property before emergency services arrived.
Kelly Campbell – Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened.
James Futters (sometimes spelt ‘Futers’) – A paper boy turned chef. Described as “a local from the village” and a “friend and neighbour of Barrymore.” Claimed to have been the first to discover the body with Simon Shaw and stated: “[It was not] Michael Barrymore and not Jonathan Kenney [who found him].” Later, of him the Evening Standard reported: “Barrymore offered James Futters a white powder on his finger saying: ‘Do you want to try this?’ Mr Futters told the inquest that he leaned forward and licked the powder.”
Claire Jones – Then aged 17. Had met Michael Barrymore for the first time on the night of the incident. Claimed not to have been aware of what happened but told the police that she “saw Barrymore rummaging through drawers and changing his clothes before police arrived. When he left the house, he had a ‘bundle of material’ under his arm,” according to the Evening Standard. “She added: ‘Jonathan (Kenney) was rushing through the bungalow before the ambulance and police arrived. I got the impression he was hiding something.’”
Jonathan Kenney – Estate agent, drag queen and Michael Barrymore’s then lover; later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged; known for having a “record of violence.” Claimed to have been the first to have discovered the body and is now aged 50.
Justin Merritt – A dustman from Essex. Later arrested on suspicion of murder but never charged. Later paid £30,000 by the News of the World for an interview in which he stated Barrymore had “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died.”
Kylie Merritt – Sister of Justin Merritt. She also alleged Barrymore “rubbed cocaine on Stuart Lubbock’s lips shortly before he died” (curiously in the wake of her brother selling his account of the night).
Simon Shaw – Described as “a local from the village.” Michael Barrymore supposedly “ran off” to Mr. Shaw’s house to “buy himself thinking time [for two hours] before he was questioned by the police [at 7.49am].”
In addition, others, who’ve never been identified could also have possibly been present. If they were, they should come forward or be named by those listed above.
Aside from blocking people on Twitter, Michael Barrymore may finally have to become cooperative given new developments in the Stuart Lubbock rape-murder case
Disgraced ‘entertainer’ Michael Barrymore likes to roll around drunk on the floor with racist baronesses like Marie-Claire von Alvensleben. He likes to block anyone who dares call him out on social media, likes to praise the croaked paedophile Sir Jimmy Savile whilst pretending to be Hitler and likes to not answer questions about what happened at his Essex bungalow on 31st March 2001.
Last week, returning to the case of the brutal rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock at Barrymore’s home that fateful night, the Sunday Mirror and People’s Dan Warburton reported:
“The dying dad of the man found drowned in Michael Barrymore’s pool is hopeful there will be justice for his son by the year’s end.”
“Terry Lubbock, 76, is yearning for closure after prosecutors confirmed they were giving ‘early advice’ to police in relation to a man, 50, held on suspicion of murder and sexual assault in March.”
Speaking to Warburton from the care home where he now resides, the victim’s father, terminal cancer sufferer Terry Lubbock, stated:
“The police are pretty much there with the case. They haven’t cracked it just yet. But I hope it will come by Christmas. We will see justice done and it will be the best Christmas ever if it comes true. If it happens that will really spread some festive cheer.”
“I think the penny’s dropped now. The people who are hiding – and they know who they are – know we are pushing until there’s nothing left to give.”
“I may be going down. My legs are gone and I struggle to walk. And my head’s going, which I really don’t want to lose.”
“But I’m not going down without a fight. I will spend my last days pushing. It’s disgraceful that it has dragged on so long. But I am sure it will be over soon.”
Now, today, we join those demanding: “Michael Barrymore and your party chums – it’s time for some honest answers. Do the right thing and help get justice for the father of this innocent victim of rape and murder.”
Pictured top: Michael Barrymore disgustingly pretending to be Hitler (left) and victim of rape and murder at his home, Stuart Lubbock (right).
Michael Barrymore pictured rolling around on the floor off-his-skull with convicted racist Marie-Claire, Baroness von Alvensleben.Michael Barrymore pictured ‘worshiping’ Sir Jimmy Savile in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house in January 2006. Of the late paedophile, at the time, the self-centred ex ‘Strike It Lucky’ host disgustingly declared: “When he came in I was blown away because it’s him and he never lets you down. I didn’t think seeing Jim and hearing Jim talking and being so personal and kind to me. I started to well up in there and thought here we go.”Cowardly cretin Michael Barrymore likes to block anyone who dares call him out on social media. He also likes to conveniently not answer pertinent questions about the horrific rape-murder that occurred in his very own home on the 31st March 2001. Shame on him!
Editor-in-chief of ‘The Steeple Times’ Matthew Steeples appeared on Shaun Attwood’s True Crime channel in March this year to discuss developments in the Stuart Lubbock rape-murder case at 4 Beaumont Park Drive, Roydon, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5HB. Last year, Essex Police and CrimeStoppers issued a new appeal for information at which time they stated: “19 years – still no justice; Help us get answers for Stuart; Someone knows.” Going further, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Jennings added: “I believe that [Stuart] was raped and murdered that night. One or more of those party-goers are responsible for that serious sexual assault on Stuart Lubbock. We remain committed to this investigation and continue to appeal for information leading to arrest and conviction in relation to the rape and murder of Stuart Lubbock. Nine people went to the party at Michael Barrymore’s house, but only one of them – Stuart – ended up being violently sexually assaulted and murdered. We know not everyone at that party was responsible for what happened, but someone was. We also know that not everyone at that party may know what happened, but someone does.”
Fire damaged Wimbledon house with half its roof missing goes on sale for the staggering sum of £5 million; is this Britain’s most expensive roofless wreck?
Britain’s now likely most expensive wreck without a roof comes in the form of a 5,000 square foot detached house – which, surprisingly is “locally listed” and thus cannot just be flattened – on a plot of one acre backing onto the Royal Wimbledon golf course.
The “period” property lost half its first floor and half its roof on 10th January 2018 when it caught fire. It took six fire engines and thirty-five firefighters just over two hours to bring the blaze under control, according to the Wimbledon Guardian.
James Morrison of selling agents Savills is anything but despondent about the future prospects for this currently not-so-regal residence. In typically bullish realtor fashion, he seizes an exclamation mark and begins: “[This is] a simply exceptional opportunity!”
Continuing Morrison gushes: “The house requires extensive refurbishment throughout. However, there is plenty of scope to extend and renovate this wonderful period property.”
Aside from “well balanced living and entertaining space across three floors with a central galleried stairwell” – and presumably a lot of charring and ingressed water damage, there is also an overgrown garden, weed infested swimming pool and a currently derelict tennis court.
Buyers will no doubt be flocking round the block to move in time for the Wimbledon Championships 2021, which starts on 28th June.
OTHER WRECKS WITHOUT A ROOF PREVIOUSLY FEATURED IN ‘THE STEEPLE TIMES’
The Lilymere Estate, Killington, Cumbria, England
Featured when offered as repossession from a disgraced and struck-off solicitor in June 2015, this lacking shelter from the elements, potentially 8-bedroom, house came with a price tag of £3 million ($4.1 million, €3.5 million or درهم15.2 million) and 1,530 acres of land.
Of the estate, at the time, another overly optimistic estate agent, Andrew Black, also of Savills, mused: “An awful lot has been invested in it and what has been done has been done to a high standard. You can see what the vision was but they never got to complete it.”
“It needs someone with the vision and the resources to finish it. Within reason, they’ve essentially got a blank canvas to put their own decorative style on. It is a one-off and a special place but it will be a challenge and require further investment.”
Muness Castle, Island of Unst, Scotland
Offered for auction in April 2021 for just £130,000 ($179,000, €151,000 or درهم659,000), this Grade A-listed castle came with with cottages, barony title, gold and copper reserves and 240 acres of land. It was bizarrely subsequently put up for auction again with just 160 acres of land a few days later after apparently selling for £184,000 ($254,000, €214,000 or درهم933,000).
Knockhall Castle, Newburgh, Aberdeen, Scotland
Also priced at £130,000 ($179,000, €151,000 or درهم659,000) when placed on the market in August 2017, this shell dates to 1565 and stands near the Trump International Golf Links course. The B-listed structure was accidentally burnt to the ground by Jamie Fleming, “a servant fool” of the then owners, the Udny of that Ilk family, in 1734.
MORE IMAGES OF THE £5,000,000 DRAX AVENUE, WIMBLEDON, LONDON, SW20 0EH WRECK CURRENTLY ON SALE
Seen from the rear, the damage to the roof is more extensive than it appears from the front of the building.From this angle, the front doesn’t look quite so bad.An aerial view of the setting shows neighbouring houses undergoing alterations also.The one acre plot has become somewhat neglected since the January 2018 fire and a former tennis court is now nothing but a ruin.The current condition of the swimming pool makes the one at Katie Price’s ‘mucky mansion’ look decidedly desirable.A lawnmower is definitely required.An aerial view of the wrecked house on Drax Avenue in otherwise ritzy West Wimbledon and its environs illustrates the degree of work required to fix up this property to liveable conditions. Beyond the somewhat punchy £5 million price tag, any purchaser will have to shell out a fortune for a lot more beyond just roof tiles.
