R.I.P Mark speight

[mika-obsessive-13]

Mark Warwick Fordham Speight (b. 6 August 1965[1]) was a British TV presenter. He was best known for presenting the long-running BBC children's art programme SMart.

In January 2008, Speight discovered the body of his fiancée and former colleague Natasha Collins at their London flat. He was arrested in connection with the death, but released without charge. On 8 April 2008, Speight was reported missing by family and friends, after having failed to attend a meeting the day before. On 13 April, it was reported that Speight's body was found at London's Paddington railway station.

<H3>Arrest and disappearance

 

On the morning of 3 January 2008, Speight called emergency services having discovered the body of his fiancée and former See It Saw It colleague in the bath of their London flat.Speight told police that he and Collins had spent the previous evening "partying" and had taken cocaine and sleeping pills, wine and vodka.Speight was subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying class A drugs and released on bail. An inquest into the death, which opened on 8 January 2008, heard that that death was not thought to be suspicious, but that it should be "subject to further investigation". At that point, police were awaiting results of toxicology tests after a postmortem examination proved inconclusive. Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death, and on 19 March 2008 it was reported that all charges against him relating to the death had been dropped. The BBC cancelled repeat broadcasts of SMart and SMarteenies until further notice, and on 28 February 2008 Speight announced he was quitting the programme Smart, because the "tragic loss" of Collins had left him unable to continue with the show..

In April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of "death by misadventure" in the case of Collins' death. 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. The pathologist gave the cause of death as cocaine toxicity and immersion in hot water. 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

On 8 April 2008, Speight was reported missing by family and friends after failing to attend a meeting on the afternoon of 7 April. He was dropped off at Wood Green tube station, London in the morning, and last seen in the afternoon boarding a Bakerloo line train. On 8 April, both his mother and the mother of Natasha Collins made a public appeal in which they urged him to make contact.Speight's father has also appealed for him to get in touch. Police confirmed that they had spoken to Speight on the day of his disappearance, saying he appeared "distracted". Speight reportedly refused all offers of help when approached by police.

 

Death

On 13 April 2008 the British Transport Police said they believed the body of a man found in an isolated section of Paddington Station was that of Mark Speight. Formal identification of the body is to take place and the Police said that investigations were ongoing into CCTV footage. The police are treating the death as "unexplained" but have confirmed that he had not been hit by a train. A post-mortem is due to take place on the body.

 

^FROM WIKIPEDIA^

 

R.I.P.

 

Filed under: Anglophilia > R.I.P.

Missing British TV personality Mark Speight was found dead on Sunday.

He had been missing since Monday.

His body was discovered at Paddington train station.

An official cause of death has yet to be determined.

Sad.

Update:

Speight was found hung, the victim of an apparent suicide.

[Image via WENN.]

 

^FROM PEREZ^

 

 

i think that when his fiancee was found dead he felt somehow responsible. his body was found in a place unaccesable to the public. he was greatly talented and had a great personality.

he will be greatly missed

[Kelzy]

That's so tragic.

[Becky]

I saw this on the news yesterday. It's really sad... I used to watch Smart when I was younger. I saw it the other week too. It's horrible that he had to die like that

[Kimoak]

I am so gutted!

 

I wish that he could have just ridden the storm of grief a little while longer so that his pain would have eased enough for him not to end his life.

 

He was from Wolverhampton which is where I live

 

Thoughts go out to his family and friends.

[mika-obsessive-13]

I saw this on the news yesterday. It's really sad... I used to watch Smart when I was younger. I saw it the other week too. It's horrible that he had to die like that

 

i know! i used to love that show too

i know he will always be remembered

[Sarah_loves_mika]

This is awful. Poor guy - i honestly thought he'd get through it too.

 

I love him on Smart. Even though i guess i'm a bit old to watch it.... but no. Its just so sad. So, so sad.

[mika-obsessive-13]

but like i said he had a great personality. a great artist but he was taking drugs and was having wild partys. my thought and sympathy go to his and her relatives and close friends

[mika-obsessive-13]

I am so gutted!

 

I wish that he could have just ridden the storm of grief a little while longer so that his pain would have eased enough for him not to end his life.

 

He was from Wolverhampton which is where I live

 

Thoughts go out to his family and friends.

 

 

i totally agree but i think he felt like it was his fault for giving her the drugs and booze. the police offered him help for the greif but he refused to take it and chose to end his life because he couldnt live without his fiancee. i know he will be sorely missed

[Sarah_loves_mika]

i totally agree but i think he felt like it was his fault for giving her the drugs and booze. the police offered him help for the greif but he refused to take it and chose to end his life because he couldnt live without his fiancee. i know he will be sorely missed

 

thats sad.

 

its quite terrible really.

 

but you cant help people who dont want to be helped though - its impossible. If he didnt want the help, there was nothing anyone could do.

[Kimoak]

i totally agree but i think he felt like it was his fault for giving her the drugs and booze. the police offered him help for the greif but he refused to take it and chose to end his life because he couldnt live without his fiancee. i know he will be sorely missed

 

Yeah that's true. Watching more about the story on our local news right now. In such a short space of time he lost so much weight when you look at the pics of him at his fiancee's inquest.

[DarkLight]

it's ever so sad that he took his life he will always be missed by those of us who watched him throughout the years

 

I just saw on teletext the other day a thing saying he has had the most memorial messages from fans on a memorial site (350) which is really nice

 

You know around the time of my birthday (last year) he came to lincoln drill hall for 2 days to do a live art show & I was umming & ahhing as to whether or not to go & see him as the show was really aimed at little kids & I'd just turned 22 & felt i'd maybe seem a little out of place

 

I'm now still kicking myself that I didn't go as just a few months later he killed himself

 

how was I to know the tragedy that was to befall him