Morning:
8°c
Speight left two notes before hanging himself
Amar Singh, Media Correspondent16 Apr 2008
Mark Speight, the BBC presenter found dead at the weekend, left two suicide notes, it was revealed today.
The 42-year-old's body was discovered hanging in an isolated building next to Paddington railway station on Sunday, six days after he had been reported missing. The children's TV presenter had spiralled into severe depression after his fiancée Natasha Collins, 31, died of an overdose and severe burns in January.
Today at the inquest into Speight's death at Westminster Coroner's Court, Dr Paul Knapman said there appeared to have been a "double tragedy". Police found two suicide notes - one on Speight's person and one in a flat, thought to be the one in St John's Wood which he had shared with Miss Collins.
Detective Inspector William Jordan, of British Transport Police, confirmed that a post mortem had found the cause of death was hanging and that police were not treating the death as suspicious.
After Miss Collins's death, Speight had moved in with her mother, Carmen, who reported him missing on Monday last week. She said he was a "broken man" and that she would hear him sobbing in his sleep. The inquest did not hear any details today of the time and date of Speight's death.
Announcing an adjournment, Dr Knapman said: "The full circumstances will be explored at the resumption of the inquest in what appears to have been a double tragedy and the date will be Tuesday 20 May 2008."
During the brief hearing, the coroner read a statement from one of his officers confirming that the deceased had been formally identified yesterday as a result of documentation found upon his person and registration details had been provided by his father, Oliver Speight.
Builders found Speight's body hanging from a beam two floors above a police station on Sunday night. It is thought it could have been there for six days.
Five days before he went missing, Speight, presenter of the show SMart, had been described as looking gaunt and haggard at the inquest into his fiancée's death, for which he was said to have blamed himself.
When Speight's body was discovered on Sunday his phone, found beside him, showed dozens of missed calls from worried friends and relatives.
Reader views (1)
We are devastated about hearing about Marks Speight's death, he was a great t.v presenter and we found him funny. We wish that he has joined his fiancée and are happy where they are and the both rest in peace.
- Liam And Brad, Sutton, UK, 21/04/2008 13:51
Report abuse
