Mark Speight found dead

[DANCESwithLordPottingtonSmythe]

bbc
What a sad end to a sad story

she had 5x the amount of cocaine in her body that it would take to kill a person

that with tranquillisers and alcohol and scalding hot bath (60% burns) led to her death, surely?

Apparently he left notes so hopefully the families will get some sort of closure from what he said.

We aren't privy to the facts on that
.

MrsClinton - unnecessary details there, thanks.

Don't blame MrsClinton. She's only repeating what has been well reported.

Its all so sad.
I used to love watching his shows as he wasn't patronising to the kids, just fun and lively

i was merely correcting with info I'd heard on a number of media outlets

monkeytrousers, there was an inquest into Natasha Collins' death and it is now a matter of public record.

I wasn't saying it to be sensationalist.

MT - I've not heard about a congenital condition, only the drugs aspect tbh.

I can't see any harsh judgement here?

oh lord, this thread is just making me sob.
I hope his family know how much he was loved and how much he will be missed.

I think it's insensitive to highlight it in the context of Mark Speight's death though. It imples that he was in some way responsible. She was an adult, and she made her own decisions, which very tragically probably contributed to her death.

They were both adults. I'm not addressing anyone in particular, just voicing an opinin based on what some people have said around me - that it was their own fault blah blah and that they somehow had it coming. I don't subscribe to that view and thank god not many on here do either.

I'm not implying anything - personally I don't think he was in any way responsible for her death and I think it was wise of the police not to press charges against him.

I do think however that the experience of finding her dead and re-living the circumstances at the inquest had a profound effect upon him, and now he's dead too.

Tragic, just tragic.

An inquest verdict of misadventure implies that the person contributed, in some way, to their own death - ie it wasn't accidental death, like if you were run over.

This is so sad on so many levels I don't know where to start.

My better half said something worrying (bit off topic sorry) Poor man hung at the station for some days before being found as area not busy but obviously accessible, so how easy would it have been to leave a bomb there without it being detected for any amount of time.

Anyway thoughts and prayers to all concerned

It said in the Standard that she had a hole in her septum from prolongd drug use, and that she had asked him not to tell her mother about it. She was also depressed about her (lack of) career and various illnesses, epilepsy included.

Maybe he felt guilt as well, that he had not got her help. Poor guy.

it is all conjecture

yes she took drugs but the judge stated something along the lines of a heart complaint

what cannot really be denied is that mark felt terrible - possible guilt- definitely a neverending stream of 'what ifs'

What if they hadn't done the cocaine/alcohol sleeping tablet?

what if they hadn't fallen asleep?

what if he hadn't slept through her getting up ...etc?

the sight of her covered in those terrible burns will undoubtedly have haunted him over the last months

i don't do drugs but i have done the most ridiculously STUPID things many many time in my younger years and yes i count my early 30's amongst those

There but for the grace of whovever go I

many people who take cocaine & other drugs are affected in a much more serious way than they realise.

dh took cocaine once and had about 3 or 4 days of complete amnesia, which i helped him through. a gp friend who I told about it thinks he may have had a mild stroke (daren't tell dh, he's a hypochondriac at the best of times and there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage..)

Many people who drink alcohol too.

Monkeytrousers, I don't think you have seen any harsh judgements on this thread. Everybody has expressed how sad they are.

I feel bad that Mark obviously had a lot of guilt over what happened to his girlfriend. He shouldn't have, unless he introduced her to that kind of lifestyle and that has not been disclosed. Consenting adults and all that.

It doesn't change the situation though, does it? They seemed like nice people. They POTENTIALLY had a great future. They chose to lead a certain lifestyle. They MAY (I stress MAY) still be here if they had made different choices. I am sure we can all say that to differing degrees.

If Natasha did have a congenital condition, any doctor in the land will tell you that a drug habit will massively increase the chances of a disastrous outcome. Mainlining cocaine is not the only way to fuck up your body.

was just reading a piece in g2 about how some parents didn't feel his death should have been reported on newsround- www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/18/bbc.television1

a quote- "I am sure a team of idiotic modern-day psychologists think it's normal and right to burden children with this terrible news, but it is not."

so reporting on events like 9/11 and the war is ok, but to ignore the death of a much-loved children's tv character is right because it may upset children?

its silly to get worked up about children being told. Unluckily people do die and yes they do commit suicide aswell. I am not sure what is to be gained by keeping all this secret

agree there with oiFoiF - it is life - bad and sad things happen , people die tragically - children can't and shouldn't be sheltered from knowing what goes on, it's all in the sensitivity of the telling, and Newsround generally handles these subjects really well.

well precisely, they didn't even mention suicide, just that he was very upset after the death of his girlfriend. i'm just amazed that anyone thinks children should not be told

if we don't tell children about death then it will come as a hell of a shock to them when they either have to experience it or start reading/watching things we don't sanction.

madness. I watched the news from a very early age and had a far greater knowledge of world affairs when I was growing up than a lot of my friends who were shielded from it.