"Awright?".....Maybe Not! Micheal Sorrymoore

In 2001, Michael Barrymore was being questioned at an Essex police station, after being arrested on suspicion of the murder of Stuart Lubbock, who was found dead at the side of the entertainer’s swimming pool.
Barrymore, 55, was arrested at an address in London and driven to the station at lunchtime. He was kept in overnight.

Barrymore’s former lover, Jonathan Kenney, 37, was arrested at the same time in the North East of England and Justin Merritt, 32, a dustman from Harlow, Essex, was picked up by officers in the Midlands. All three have been brought to Essex by police.

The arrests come after a review of the death of Mr Lubbock was carried out in 2000.
A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: “We had a review done last year as a matter of routine looking at all unexplained cases and that has resulted in the action today.

“The officers would have to have grounds to arrest someone. The review will have gone over all the statements and every piece of forensic evidence and would have identified any new forensic opportunity, if there are any.”

Mr Lubbock, a butcher, was found at his Barrymore's home in Roydon, early on March 31 2001. His father, Terry, 62, of Harlow, said today: “I am really pleased. It feels like it is the end of a long struggle.” He said he did not know what new evidence police had.

Mr Lubbock’s brother, Kevin, 39, also of Harlow, added: “I am really happy this has all come to light. It’s been a long time... I am a bit numb.”

Post-mortem tests showed that he had suffered severe internal injuries that suggested sexual assault. Alcohol, Ecstasy and cocaine were found in his blood.
It is the second time that Barrymore has been arrested in connection with the death.
Three months after Mr Lubbock’s death, Barrymore was arrested on suspicion of possessing class A and class B drugs, as well as other drugs offences.
Two other men arrested at the same time, one from Blackpool and another from Harlow, Essex, were arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr Lubbock.
In October 2001, Barrymore accepted an official caution for drugs offences and allowing his home to be used for smoking cannabis. The other men were released without charge.




Nevertheless, the case has continued to haunt the entertainer, who left the UK for New Zealand in late 2003.
Barrymore’s former agent Karen Kay, who is in Auckland, New Zealand, said that the entertainer returned to the UK one month ago. She said Barrymore left New Zealand because he was homesick.
Ms Kay said she was sorry to hear Barrymore had been arrested. She said: “He left a month ago to come back to England. He wanted to go back home.”
Since returning to the UK, Barrymore has been mixing in London showbusiness circles again. Last week he attended the final of search-for-a-star show Joseph with life coach Carole Caplin. She declined to comment today.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said earlier this year that it had decided to investigate aspects of the inquiry after receiving complaints from the family of Mr Lubbock.
Tony Bennett, the Lubbock family solicitor, said that he had complained about information that Essex Police gave to a coroner and pathologists after Lubbock's death.
The commission said that the investigation into the complaint would be carried out by another force.
No one was charged in connection with Lubbock's death and an open verdict was recorded at an inquest. Police are launching a fresh inquiry into the death of a partygoer at the home of television entertainer Michael Barrymore.
Essex Police announced the move on Monday, while the TV personality was speaking on BBC Radio Five Live.

An open verdict was recorded at the inquest last September when pathologists said they could not be certain he had drowned.
Essex Police faxed the BBC as Mr Barrymore was telling radio listeners he had new evidence about Mr Lubbock's injuries.
The police statement said officers would investigate suggestions by Mr Barrymore's lawyer that the dead man suffered injuries after being taken from the entertainer's home.
The new line of inquiry would be overseen by a superintendent.

Hypothesis...DUM DUM DUUUUM (second attempt)

When celebrities commit crimes, the media seem to focus on them alot more than when "regular" people commit crimes of the same nature. Explore this issue.

The Karma-Karma-Karma-Karma-Karma-Criminal

On October 7, 2005, Boy George was arrested in Manhattan on suspicion of possessing cocaine. On June 17, 2006, a Manhattan judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Boy George after the former Culture Club singer failed to appear in court. After another court date was set, George was fined $1000 and required to perform community service. Singer Boy George swept streets in New York as part of a five-day community service sentence.
But the former Culture Club frontman, real name George O'Dowd, was moved into a fenced-off area after only 30 minutes because he was mobbed by the media.
He wore a fluorescent jacket, gloves and sunglasses, and had previously made light of the punishment by saying that he had "always been a scrubber".

The 45-year-old was found guilty of wasting police time earlier this year.
He was also threatened with jail if he failed to complete the court-imposed sentence.
O'Dowd was issued with a shovel, broom and plastic bags when he arrived at a depot in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Around 30 minutes later he emerged from the building to board a street cleaning vehicle. At one point he shouted "cleaner coming through!" as he tried to get past the hordes of cameras.
However, he ranted at them and, at one point, swept a pile of leaves towards cameras.
"This is supposed to be community service," he said angrily.
"You're just making it a nightmare, which just means it's for the media and not for me." Photographers surrounded him as his street-sweeping shift began
Asked if he was annoyed that he was performing such menial tasks, he replied that he was not.
He said: "My mum was a cleaner, my dad was a builder, know what I mean?"



Sanitation department deputy chief Albert Durrell then took the singer off the streets, saying he was concerned for everyone's safety.
He was to return to a depot, Mr Durrell explained, where he would be "hand-sweeping the area along the fence".
He added that there was always work to be done inside the building as well, such as mopping and clearing bins.

The community service order stems from an incident last October when O'Dowd called the police to his New York home.
A small amount of cocaine was found in the apartment and the singer was arrested.
The cocaine possession charge was dropped in March after O'Dowd pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of wasting police time.
In June, however, the singer was criticised by New York Judge Anthony Ferrara for failing to pay a $1,000 fine and perform his five days of community service.
The order has been criticised by the flamboyant performer's lawyer, who said the punishment would turn into "a media circus".
O'Dowd also said he felt it would be "more useful" to stage a charity concert rather than spending his time "prancing around in a park".

So did Boy George get off lightly because he is a celebrity, or did the law make an example of him by feeding him to the frenzied media?
Sources: BBC.co.uk/new, wikipedia.com

OJ's Not Ok

In 1995, OJ Simpson, an ex--NFL football star, was arrested and trialed over the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The 133 days of televised courtroom testimony turned countless viewers into Simpson trial junkies. During his infamous police chase, ninety-five million television viewers tuned in to witness live footage. Even foreign leaders such as Margaret Thatcher and Boris Yeltsin eagerly gossiped about the trial. When Yeltsin stepped off his plane to meet President Clinton, the first question he asked was, "Do you think O. J. did it?" When, at 10 A.M. PST on October 3, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's verdict of "Not Guilty," 91% of all persons viewing television were glued to the unfolding scene in the Los Angeles courtroom.
Shortly before midnight on June 12, 1994, Simpson's former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside Brown's Bundy Drive Brentwood-area condominium in Los Angeles, California with the Simpson children sleeping in an upstairs bedroom. The Simpsons had been divorced since 1992. Evidence found and collected at the scene led police to believe that O. J. Simpson might have been the murderer.

Simpson's lawyers convinced the Los Angeles Police Department to allow Simpson to turn himself in at 11 a.m. on June 17 even though the double murder charge meant no bail and a possible death penalty verdict if convicted. Double homicide is a capital offense in California. In the end, the prosecution elected not to ask for the death penalty and sought a life sentence.
The mid-day revelation of the not guilty verdict appeared to shock the prosecutorial team, and likewise shocked many in America (even one of Simpson's lawyers feared at first that the quick verdict might mean conviction.)
Some who opposed the verdict blamed the jurors, who acquitted despite being presented with what they were convinced was overwhelming evidence of Simpson's guilt (especially the DNA evidence). In post-trial interviews with the jurors, a few said that they believed Simpson probably committed the murder, but that the prosecution bungled the case. Those that did mention the DNA evidence showed what critics purport to be a lack of understanding of it. Critics of the verdict therefore allege incompetence from both the prosecutors and the jury. Only two of the jurors had received a college education. Prosecutors claimed to have heard a few of them saying things like "Well, lots of people have the same blood type," not understanding that DNA is very different from blood type.

Source: Wikipedia.com

Could the not guilty verdict be due to the fact that OJ was an American celebrity, or just the honest opinions of the jury?

What A Shambles!

Another celebrity who is not by any means shy of the justice system is Babyshambles frontman Peter Doherty. He has been caught numerous amounts of times with hard drugs and has also had many clashes with the paparazzi. However, the long arm of the law seems a tad too short when it comes to a prison sentance, as out of the many times he has been arrested, he has only spent a maximum of 2-3 nights in prison.

A Royal Pain In The...

It seems that even the royal family are getting in on the action when it comes to behaving badly. In 2001, Princess Anne became the first member of the royal family to face civil court charges. She pleaded guilty to driving at 93 mph on a dual carriageway on her way to Hartpury College in Gloucestershire. She was fined £400 by Cheltenham Magistrates' Court and had five points added to her driving licence.

In 2002,She was convicted of a second civil offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. She pleaded guilty to the charge that her dog, Dotty, attacked two boys while she and her husband were taking her for a walk in Windsor Great Park. She was fined £500 by Berkshire Magistrates' Court and ordered to give Dotty more training. This was the first case in which a senior member of the royal family has been convicted of a crime. In December 2003, one of the Queen's Corgis had to be put down, after being savaged by another of Princess Anne's dogs.

Princess Anne is not the only member of the Royal Family to have her wrist slapped by the long arm of the law. Prince Harry was reportedly caught smoking cannibis, and was sent to a drugs rehabilitation clinic for a day. Prince Charles decided to shock his 17-year-old son after learning he had taken drugs in the grounds of his Highgrove home, and drunk heavily at a local pub, said the News of the World.

St James's Palace has not denied the reports, confirming the prince had "experimented with the drug on several occasions", but stressing the cannabis use could not be described as "regular".

Sources: BBC.co.uk/news

Celebrity Criminals

My chosen field of research is Celebrity Criminals. They are constantly in the media limelight, and I will be researching the representations and treatments of them in my blog.

I will start off with the most recent case study, Paris Hilton, who was arrested in America for an offence of driving under the influence.