The Stage

Fraudster Paul Coxwell is back - as Michael Barrymore’s agent

Published Thursday 1 December 2011 at 12:52 by Alistair Smith

Paul Coxwell, the disgraced theatre producer and venue operator, has re-invented himself as an agent and is currently claiming to represent performer Michael Barrymore.

In January this year, a Stage investigation revealed that Coxwell, who had been jailed for £500,000 of VAT fraud in 2009, was working under a new identity - Paul Parker. As Parker, he was serving as the chief executive of StageLive, which was operating the recently reopened Broadway Theatre in Peterborough. This was potentially breaching a ban that Coxwell received in 2009 preventing him from serving as a company director until 2013.

Since then, the Broadway Theatre has encountered severe financial problems and been forced to close, leaving producers and suppliers owed hundreds of thousands of pounds, as well as ticket-buyers out of pocket. StageLive (Peterborough) Ltd has since gone into liquidation and was officially wound up by insolvency practitioner Harrisons Business Recovery and Insolvency Specialists in October.

Following the Broadway’s closure, it had been thought that Parker/Coxwell had left the theatre industry. However, he has now re-emerged presenting himself as the agent for entertainer Barrymore. Prior to the Broadway Theatre’s closure, Barrymore had been due to appear in the venue’s planned Christmas production of Cinderella.

Coxwell - now operating under his original name again - is quoted in recent press reports as Barrymore’s agent, telling the Daily Mail that the performer is “very well and in good health”. When approached by The Stage, Coxwell also confirmed that he was acting as Barrymore’s agent.

Last week, The Stage revealed that Parker/Coxwell’s case had been referred to the department of business’ prosecutions unit to determine whether he should be prosecuted for criminal misconduct.