Mark Speight - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

On 13 April Speight's body was discovered hanging from the roof of MacMillan House, adjacent to London's Paddington Station, hidden from public view, six days after he died. The discovery was made by railway workers at 10:00 am, and British Transport Police confirmed that the body was Speight's on 14 April 2008. An inquest into his death opened on 16 April 2008, and a post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as hanging. It was then adjourned until 20 May. The police said Speight may have used a sixth floor fire exit to get to the area where he was found.

The report of Speight's death on the BBC's children's news programme Newsround provoked complaints that it upset young viewers. The BBC decided to avoid using the word "suicide," and instead Newsround reported that "police don't think he was killed by anyone else."

Speight's funeral was held on 28 April at St Michael and All Angels Church in Tettenhall, and hundreds went to pay their respects. The service included a performance by the choir from Tettenhall College, Speight's former school, and his coffin was carried out of the church accompanied by the theme tune of SMart. In May the inquest resumed and determined that Speight was deeply depressed from his fiancee's death. He had first tried to hang himself with his belt, which was found snapped in his pocket, and had ended up hanging himself with his shoelaces; it was also disclosed that suicide notes had been found, one in his left pocket, and one addressed to his parents in his diary at his home. The notes described how he could not "contemplate life without ". The coroner Dr Paul Knapman said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death. In May 2008 Speight's father created a foundation, Speight of the Art, or SP8 of the Art, and launched it at a memorial service which took place on what would have been his 43rd birthday, 6 August 2008 at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London.