Michael Barrymore has won his claim that police wrongfully arrested him over the death of a man found dead in his swimming pool, according to reports this morning.
Stuart Lubbock, 31, was discovered drowned at the television presenter's former home in Roydon, Essex, in 2001. His injuries indicated he had been sexually assaulted.
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He is suing Essex Police for "aggravated and exemplary damages", saying the arrest led him to suffer "loss and damage namely distress, shock, anxiety and damage to his reputation".
According to the Daily Mirror, Essex Police signed an agreement with Barrymore's lawyers, dated 14 October, that effectively accepts he was wrongfully arrested and detained.
An Essex Police spokesman told the newspaper: "As the matter remains in litigation and is in the hands of lawyers, further comment would not be appropriate."
The Daily Mail says the ruling means Barrymore, 64, "can now make a claim for damages and it could pave the way for a major TV comeback".
A mainstay of television in the 1980s and 1990s, Barrymore lost a lucrative contract with ITV in 2002 following an open verdict being recorded on Lubbock's death.
Lubbock's father, Terry, 71, said that the latest development did not provide "closure or justice" for him.