Mark Speight: The Times obituary

An investigation has been launched into how the body of the children’s television presenter Mark Speight went undiscovered for six days at a London railway station.

Speight, 42, was found hanging from a roof in a disused part of Paddington train station at around 10am yesterday morning, police confirmed today.

He had been reported missing last Monday amid fears for his mental state after the death of his fiancée, Natasha Collins, in a bath at their home on January 3. She had earlier taken a large quantity of cocaine along with alcohol and sleeping pills.

British Transport Police said today they were investigating how Mr Speight came to die in the West London station, and why his body went undiscovered for so long. "We are carrying out a report which we will then pass to the coroner," a spokesperson said.

Network Rail staff discovered the body hanging in the roof of MacMillan House, an office building next to the station concourse, the police said in a statement.

"The body was in a remote area out of public view," it added.

Rail staff rarely visit the largely-deserted building, with most of its offices currently empty or undergoing refurbishment.

Results of a post-mortem are to be released tomorrow and police were expected to conclude that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Mr Speight, who found his fiancée with burns covering 60 per cent of her body on January 3, was arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs. Scotland Yard said last month that he would not face charges.

Mr Speight had been dropped off at Wood Green Station, North London, on Monday morning and had been due to meet his fiancee’s mother, Carmen Collins, 57, later that day to visit some of his dead fiancée’s favourite places in London.

The presenter was recorded on camera entering Queen’s Park Tube Station at 2.25pm and was last seen 22 minutes later, boarding a southbound train on the Bakerloo Line. He was seen in Kilburn by two police officers who said, after he had been reported missing, that he seemed “distracted and deep in thought”. They had asked him if he wanted medical assistance.

Mrs Collins, who reported Mr Speight missing after he failed to appear for their meeting, said that the presenter had been discussing wedding plans with her daughter, who was 31. She said that while he had been staying at her house recently she could hear him crying at night, adding: “She was his soulmate and now life has died for him.”

Oliver Speight, the presenter’s father, said last night: “Mark was a wonderful son and brother to his family and will be very sadly missed.”

The BBC said in a statement: “This is very sad news and our thoughts are with Mark’s family and friends. Mark was a hugely talented and very popular presenter for many years.”

Mr Speight, originally from Wolverhampton, rose to fame on the ITV Saturday morning programme Scratchy & Co and is best known for presenting the BBC children’s art show, SMart.

He and Miss Collins appeared together in 1999 on the CBBC programme See It, Saw It. Regular television roles then dried up for Miss Collins after she was hit by a car and seriously injured seven years ago. She had been working as a model and also presented corporate videos.

In February Mr Speight announced that he was leaving SMart because his “tragic loss” had left him unable to continue.

Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner at the inquest into Miss Collins’ death, recorded a verdict of death by misadventure and said that although she had taken enough cocaine to kill her, it was likely that a heart problem had caused her to lose consciousness in the bath.

Nabeel Sheikh, Speight’s lawyer, described the presenter as a “complete one-off”. Mr Sheikh said: “He was a very sensitive character and he was a very giving person. I think that the whole traumatic experience he has been through is something that he needed help with. Unfortunately, he has taken his own life, which is a tragic loss of another young person.”

A spokesman for British Transport Police said that a formal identification would take place today.

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