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Presenter Mark Speight, left, with friend Al Pillay |
Backing for girlfriend death TV star
Singer speaks out in support of children’s television presenter pal after murder arrest shock
A SHOWBIZ pal of Mark Speight, the BBC TV children’s presenter arrested on suspicion of murder after his fiancée was found dead in their St John’s Wood home, has defended him after the charges were dropped.
Al Pillay, who says he considers himself a “brother” to Mr Speight, has been consoling him following the tragic death of 31-year-old actress Natasha Collins on Friday.
Mr Pillay, who is working on a television series with Mr Speight for the BBC, believes Ms Collins overdosed on medication prescribed to her after she was plunged into a coma in 2000.
In 2000 Miss Collins was left unconscious for three weeks following a traffic accident and her television career then nose-dived.
Mr Pillay said: “My understanding is that Tash may have reacted to her medication.
“She was in a coma for three weeks after an accident a few years ago. When people damage their brains things can happen.
“She may have had some kind of seizure brought on by her medication. Natasha was a genuinely lovely person with a fantastic, mad sense of humour and very generous heart.”
A post mortem on Wednesday at Westminster Coroner’s Court revealed that the death was “non-suspicious at this stage”.
An inquest in February will determine the cause of death, but detectives have dropped the murder charge against Mr Speight.
Mr Pillay, whose most recent CD Al Pillay: A Life in Song stormed the charts and received glowing reviews, said: “Mark is not a murderer. He might say boo to a goose, but he would never hurt a fly.
“He didn’t ever swear and he would never drink if he was working. He was no threat to society and no way a bad influence on anybody.”
He added: “I think all those people who have called Mark a murderer should think very carefully about what they have done – because this kind of thing has consequences. All will be revealed. Mark will be vindicated.”
Mr Speight, who was born and raised in Wolverhampton, is best known for CBBC programme SMart, which he has hosted since 1995.
The BBC responded to his arrest by cancelling Saturday morning’s edition on the CBBC channel.
Mr Pillay, recalling a trip to the panto with Mr Speight before Christmas, said he was a natural entertainer.
“I just hope he recovers and does not lose his job because he is a wonderful person,” he said.
“We were incredibly close. I am just so devastated about this.”
Mr Speight denies having had anything to do with Ms Collins’s death, according to a statement released on his behalf.
“At the moment no one knows what happened. Mark found her body in the bathroom and immediately called an ambulance and the police,” the statement read.
The actress and model was represented by the HandE casting agency, which has paid tribute to her in a statement.
It read: “She was a wonderful, confident young lady and her beauty was inside and out.” |
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