Mark Speight: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
reword
→‎Arrest: it's still silly to quote one word....
Line 34: Line 34:


===Arrest===
===Arrest===
On the afternoon of 3 January 2008, Speight called emergency services having woken up to discover Collins's body in the bath of their [[St John's Wood]] flat, in northwest London. Speight told police that he and Collins had spent the previous evening "partying" and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills, wine and vodka.<ref name="times">{{cite news |last= Booth |first= Jenny | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article3704273.ece | title=TV star Mark Speight 'missing' after fiancee Natasha Collins's inquest | work=[[The Times]] |publisher=[[News International]] | date=2008-04-08 | accessdate=2008-04-13}}</ref> Speight was questioned by police as he was the only other person living in the flat,<ref>{{cite news | title = CBBC star 'distraught' over death | work = [[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=[[2008-01-04]] | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7171292.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-04}}</ref> and the BBC cancelled the Saturday repeat edition of ''SMart''.<ref name=leavessmart>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7269389.stm|title=CBBC star leaves show over death|work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=[[2008-02-28]] | accessdate=2008-09-24}}</ref> He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying [[Misuse of Drugs Act 1971#Class A drugs|class A drugs]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/04/ukcrime.media |title=BBC star bailed after death of girlfriend |last=Stratton |first=Allegra |work=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]]|date=[[2008-01-04]] |accessdate=2008-09-24}}</ref> but he was released on bail until the first week of February. An [[Inquest (England and Wales)|inquest]], which opened on 8 January 2008, heard that the death was not thought to be suspicious but should be "subject to further investigation".<ref name=notsuspicious>{{cite news | title=Presenter death 'not suspicious' | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-01-08]] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7176552.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-08}}</ref> At that point, police were awaiting results of [[toxicology]] tests after a [[postmortem]] examination had proved inconclusive.<ref name="Postmortem" /> The BBC cancelled repeat broadcasts of ''SMart'' and ''SMarteenies'' until further notice,<ref name="Postmortem"/> and on 28 February Speight announced he was quitting ''SMart'', because the "tragic loss" of Collins had left him unable to continue with the show.<ref name=leavessmart /> Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death,<ref name=notsuspicious /> and on 19 March it was reported that the police would take no further action.<ref name="coroner">{{cite news | title=Actress died after taking drugs | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-04-02]] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7326226.stm | accessdate = 2008-04-13}} </ref>
On the afternoon of 3 January 2008, Speight called emergency services having woken up to discover Collins's body in the bath of their [[St John's Wood]] flat, in northwest London. Speight told police that he and Collins had spent the previous evening partying and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills, wine and vodka.<ref name="times">{{cite news |last= Booth |first= Jenny | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article3704273.ece | title=TV star Mark Speight 'missing' after fiancee Natasha Collins's inquest | work=[[The Times]] |publisher=[[News International]] | date=2008-04-08 | accessdate=2008-04-13}}</ref> Speight was questioned by police as he was the only other person living in the flat,<ref>{{cite news | title = CBBC star 'distraught' over death | work = [[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=[[2008-01-04]] | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7171292.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-04}}</ref> and the BBC cancelled the Saturday repeat edition of ''SMart''.<ref name=leavessmart>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7269389.stm|title=CBBC star leaves show over death|work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=[[2008-02-28]] | accessdate=2008-09-24}}</ref> He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying [[Misuse of Drugs Act 1971#Class A drugs|class A drugs]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jan/04/ukcrime.media |title=BBC star bailed after death of girlfriend |last=Stratton |first=Allegra |work=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]]|date=[[2008-01-04]] |accessdate=2008-09-24}}</ref> but he was released on bail until the first week of February. An [[Inquest (England and Wales)|inquest]], which opened on 8 January 2008, heard that the death was not thought to be suspicious but should be "subject to further investigation".<ref name=notsuspicious>{{cite news | title=Presenter death 'not suspicious' | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-01-08]] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7176552.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-08}}</ref> At that point, police were awaiting results of [[toxicology]] tests after a [[postmortem]] examination had proved inconclusive.<ref name="Postmortem" /> The BBC cancelled repeat broadcasts of ''SMart'' and ''SMarteenies'' until further notice,<ref name="Postmortem"/> and on 28 February Speight announced he was quitting ''SMart'', because the "tragic loss" of Collins had left him unable to continue with the show.<ref name=leavessmart /> Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death,<ref name=notsuspicious /> and on 19 March it was reported that the police would take no further action.<ref name="coroner">{{cite news | title=Actress died after taking drugs | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-04-02]] | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7326226.stm | accessdate = 2008-04-13}} </ref>


In April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of [[wikt:misadventure|death by misadventure]] in relation to Collins. The inquest found that she had taken "very significant" amounts of cocaine with sleeping pills and vodka, and that she had suffered 60% burns to her body, including her tongue. The consultant pathologist gave the cause of death as cocaine toxicity and immersion in hot water.<ref name="coroner"/> The coroner noted that at some stage in the night after both Speight and Collins had gone to bed, Collins got up to have a bath. He said that it was "more likely than not" that a heart problem had caused Collins to fall unconscious while the hot tap was running.<ref name="times"/> Following Collins's death, Speight moved in with her mother.<ref name="missing">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7335912.stm | title=Fiancee death presenter missing | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-04-08]] | accessdate=2008-04-08 }}</ref>
In April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of [[wikt:misadventure|death by misadventure]] in relation to Collins. The inquest found that she had taken "very significant" amounts of cocaine with sleeping pills and vodka, and that she had suffered 60% burns to her body, including her tongue. The consultant pathologist gave the cause of death as cocaine toxicity and immersion in hot water.<ref name="coroner"/> The coroner noted that at some stage in the night after both Speight and Collins had gone to bed, Collins got up to have a bath. He said that it was "more likely than not" that a heart problem had caused Collins to fall unconscious while the hot tap was running.<ref name="times"/> Following Collins's death, Speight moved in with her mother.<ref name="missing">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7335912.stm | title=Fiancee death presenter missing | work=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] | date=[[2008-04-08]] | accessdate=2008-04-08 }}</ref>

Revision as of 14:37, 5 October 2008

Mark Speight
File:Markspeight.jpg
Mark Speight
OccupationTV presenter
Years active1994–2008
Partner(s)Natasha Collins
(2005–2008)

Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (6 August 1965 – 7 April 2008)[1] was a British television presenter, who worked on the long-running BBC children's art programme SMart, amongst other shows. Growing up in Tettenhall, in the West Midlands, he left school at the age of 16 to become a cartoonist. He subsequently gained an art degree, and while working in television set construction, heard of auditions for a new children's art programme. He became one of the first presenters of SMart, and fronted the show for fourteen years.

Speight was also a presenter on See It Saw It, where he met his future fiancée Natasha Collins. He took part in live events, such as Rolf on Art and his own Speight of the Art workshops for children. He became involved in charity work, becoming the president for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign's Young Pavement Artists Competition, and a spokesperson for ChildLine. During the Christmas period in 2007, he took part in a pantomime production of Cinderella.

In January 2008 Speight found Collins's dead body in the bath at their London flat and was initially arrested on suspicion of her murder, but was ultimately not charged with any offence. An inquest later determined she had died of a drug overdose and severe burns from hot water. In April, Speight was reported missing and was found hanged near Paddington Station a few days later; two suicide notes were later discovered, describing how he could no longer live life without Collins.

Biography

Early life

Speight was born in Seisdon, Staffordshire, and grew up in Tettenhall, near Wolverhampton. His father, Oliver Speight, is a property developer, and his mother, Jacqueline Speight, was an art teacher.[2] Jacqueline died on 5 September 2008, aged 62, from a stroke allegedly brought on by the stress of her son's death.[3] Speight attended the independent school Tettenhall College for a year, before moving at the age of 12 to state comprehensive Regis School, now known as King's School.[4] Speight stated in an interview he was a slow learner at school, with a short attention span, and art was a way for him to communicate.[2] He said he did "very badly" as he was a victim of bullying, and that the "daily ordeal for two years" forced him to become the "class joker". Speight left aged 16 and went on to attend Bilston Art School.[5]

Career

Speight took a degree in commercial and graphic art at Bilston Art School. Intending to become a cartoonist, he entered into television when he heard about auditions for children's television programme SMart while painting the set of another television production.[2] Following a successful interview, where he met future co-presenter Jay Burridge,[6] he went on to present SMart from its first edition in 1994.[2] Speight became close friends with Burridge, whose art studio in West London was used to create all of the art content for the show; Burridge noted: "We would bounce ideas and jokes off each other all day until we had developed an almost telepathically linked knowledge of what made each other laugh." Speight and Burridge were joined by third presenter Zoë Ball, who was replaced first by Josie D'Arby, and then Kirsten O'Brien. With Burridge and O'Brien, Speight presented the spin-off shows SMarteenies and SMart on the Road, as well as various live events.[6] He achieved further fame while starring in the BAFTA-nominated ITV Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co. from 1995 until 1998.[2]

Collins and Speight on See It Saw It

Speight worked on numerous other shows, ranging from children's television to adult factual programmes. He played the Abominable No Man in Timmy Mallett's Timmy Towers[2] and hosted Beat the Cyborgs, Name That Toon, On Your Marks,[7] Insides Out,[5] and History Busters, the last of which won a Royal Television Society Award.[4][8] Speight had regular slots on This Morning, The Heaven and Earth Show,[2] The Big Breakfast[5] and was a contestant in ITV's Celebrity Wrestling.[9] Speight also played the king on See It Saw It, where he met Natasha Collins.[4] Collins was seriously injured after being hit by a car in 2001, and had to leave See It Saw It. Speight began dating her in 2003,[1] and they became engaged in Barbados in 2005. They planned to get married in fancy-dress and have monkeys in the church, Speight's favourite animal.[2]

In 2004, Speight participated in Rolf Harris's Rolf on Art, for which a giant reproduction of John Constable's The Hay Wain was created in Trafalgar Square. In 2005 he was involved in similar events where Hans Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa were both reconstructed, the latter in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle.[2] Speight had planned a project involving a trip to Borneo in March 2008 to train abused orangutans not to fight each other, but this never took place.[10]

Speight regularly toured with Speight of the Art, art workshops he ran for children, and was involved in charity work, becoming President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign's Young Pavement Artists Competition, originally a one-off year-long project that in fact lasted eight years, and a spokesperson for ChildLine.[2][11] In 2007, he hosted the Müller Big Art Project in Trafalgar Square as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day. During the Christmas period, he became involved in pantomime, and performed as "Buttons" in Cinderella at the Watersmeet, Rickmansworth in December 2007.[10]

Arrest

On the afternoon of 3 January 2008, Speight called emergency services having woken up to discover Collins's body in the bath of their St John's Wood flat, in northwest London. Speight told police that he and Collins had spent the previous evening partying and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills, wine and vodka.[12] Speight was questioned by police as he was the only other person living in the flat,[13] and the BBC cancelled the Saturday repeat edition of SMart.[14] He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying class A drugs,[15] but he was released on bail until the first week of February. An inquest, which opened on 8 January 2008, heard that the death was not thought to be suspicious but should be "subject to further investigation".[16] At that point, police were awaiting results of toxicology tests after a postmortem examination had proved inconclusive.[7] The BBC cancelled repeat broadcasts of SMart and SMarteenies until further notice,[7] and on 28 February Speight announced he was quitting SMart, because the "tragic loss" of Collins had left him unable to continue with the show.[14] Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death,[16] and on 19 March it was reported that the police would take no further action.[17]

In April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure in relation to Collins. The inquest found that she had taken "very significant" amounts of cocaine with sleeping pills and vodka, and that she had suffered 60% burns to her body, including her tongue. The consultant pathologist gave the cause of death as cocaine toxicity and immersion in hot water.[17] The coroner noted that at some stage in the night after both Speight and Collins had gone to bed, Collins got up to have a bath. He said that it was "more likely than not" that a heart problem had caused Collins to fall unconscious while the hot tap was running.[12] Following Collins's death, Speight moved in with her mother.[18]

Disappearance

Speight failed to meet with Collins's mother at Covent Garden for a coffee on the afternoon of 7 April,[19] after he had been dropped off at Wood Green tube station that morning.[20] He had been due to visit a counsellor, but a mix-up over dates meant she was not home.[21] Two police officers also spoke to him, as he appeared "vacant", "distracted" and "deep in thought", but he refused their help. He was caught on CCTV in the afternoon taking money from a cash machine at Queen's Park station, and he subsequently boarded a southbound Bakerloo line train.[19] He was reported missing the following day by family and friends, and his mother and the mother of Natasha Collins made a public appeal in which they urged him to make contact.[20] Speight's father also appealed for him to get in touch.[22]

Death and legacy

On 13 April, Speight's body was discovered hanging from the roof of MacMillan House, adjacent to London's Paddington Station, out of public view.[23] The discovery was made by railway workers at 10:00am,[24] and British Transport Police confirmed that the body was Speight's on 14 April 2008. An inquest into the death opened on 16 April 2008, and a post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as hanging. It was then adjourned until 20 May.[25] The police said it was possible Speight used a sixth floor fire exit to access the roof area where he was found.[21] The BBC report of Speight's death on children's news programme Newsround was met with complaints that it upset child viewers. The corporation decided to avoid the word "suicide" and instead described his death as "[not] killed by anyone else".[26] Some parents criticised the decision to mention Speight's death at all, but the BBC defended their actions, stating that if Newsround did not cover his death, it would not be "serving [its] audience properly".[27]

Speight's funeral was held on 28 April at St Michael and All Angels Church in Tettenhall, and was attended by hundreds of people. The choir from Tettenhall College, Speight's former school, performed during the service, and his coffin was carried out of the church to the theme tune of SMart.[28] In May, the inquest resumed and determined that Speight had first tried to hang himself with his belt, which was found snapped in his pocket, and had ended up hanging himself with his shoelaces; it was also disclosed that suicide notes had been found, one in his left pocket, and one addressed to his parents in his diary at his home. The notes described how he could not "contemplate life without [Collins]".[29] The coroner Dr Paul Knapman said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. In May 2008, Speight's father created a foundation, SP8 Of The Art, and launched it at a memorial service which took place on what would have been his 43rd birthday, 6 August 2008 at St Paul's church in Covent Garden, London.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b Cable, Amanda (2008-10-04). "Drugs, death and despair: How death of TV presenter Mark Speight's fiancee sparked a spiral of tragedy". The Mail on Sunday. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Armstrong, Stephen (2008-04-14). "Mark Speight". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Self, Alistair (2008-09-07). "'Stress' kills the mother of tragic TV star Mark Speight". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c "Obituary: Mark Speight". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b c Parkes, Diane (2005-09-16). "Telly star Mark a victim of bullies". icBirmingham. Midland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-01-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ a b Burridge, Jay (2008-04-18). "Mark and me". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-04-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Ryan, Rosalind (2008-01-07). "Postmortem on Speight's fiancee inconclusive'". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
  8. ^ "RTS Awards — the winners". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. media. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
  9. ^ Bishop, Tom (2005-04-14). "ITV wrestles for Saturday ratings". BBC News Online. BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  10. ^ a b Dakin, Melanie (2007-12-06). "CBBC SMart host Mark Speight draws the crowds at The Watersmeet". Bucks Free Press. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Statement on Mark Speight" (Press release). Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  12. ^ a b Booth, Jenny (2008-04-08). "TV star Mark Speight 'missing' after fiancee Natasha Collins's inquest". The Times. News International. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  13. ^ "CBBC star 'distraught' over death". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ a b "CBBC star leaves show over death". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ Stratton, Allegra (2008-01-04). "BBC star bailed after death of girlfriend". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ a b "Presenter death 'not suspicious'". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ a b "Actress died after taking drugs". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-02. Retrieved 2008-04-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Fiancee death presenter missing". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Police spoke to missing presenter". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  20. ^ a b "Family plea to missing presenter". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ a b "Presenter Speight hanged himself". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-05-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Missing star told 'don't give up'". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-04-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "TV host Speight was found hanged". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-04-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "TV host Mark Speight 'found dead'". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-13. Retrieved 2008-09-24. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "TV presenter left suicide notes". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ "BBC's Mark Speight coverage made children cry". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2008-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Revoir, Paul (2008-04-15). "BBC Newsround flooded with complaints over coverage of Mark Speight's death". Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ "Funeral for hanged TV presenter". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ Tibbetts, Graham (2008-05-20). "Mark Speight 'could not live without fiancee'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ "Memorial for TV presenter Speight". BBC News Online. BBC. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-09-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links


Template:Persondata {{subst:#if:Speight, Mark|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1965}} 

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2008}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1965 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2008}} 

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default =

}}

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Speight&oldid=243186304"