Lester Middlehurst: Cointreau, celebs and the queen's English

The untimely death last year of the Mail 's showbiz hack Lester Middlehurst at a mere 55 (death by Cointreau it appears) was very saddening. Prof Roy Greenslade of the Guardian claimed that the poor poppet took his own life because of previous suicide attempts (nice of him to tell us), but an inquest in February put us straight. He died of oxygen deprivation arising from prodigious drinking.

To read Prof Roy's embarrassing obit from last December, click here. We all make mistakes, of course, but some more than others.

There can be hardly a sleb from lists A to Z who wasn't interviewed by Mr Middlehurst. I'm told that shortly after the late editor David English hired him at the Mail, Lester was caught in flagrante by cops in some Brighton bushes and carted off. Puritan English was appalled and inclined to get rid of him - but the contract was signed and sealed. Is this story true? Perhaps someone will elucidate.