Mark Speight left two suicide notes, inquest hears
Wolverhampton-born television presenter Mark Speight was found hanging in a building next to Paddington railway station left two suicide notes, his inquest has been told.
The 42-year-old was found on Sunday, six days after he had been reported missing. Speight had been left reeling by the death of his fiancee, Natasha Collins, at the flat they shared in St John's Wood, north west London in January.
He was initially arrested in connection with her death but no charges were brought. An inquest into Collins's death heard that she had take cocaine and sleeping tablets and suffered burns covering 60% of her body in a bath of hot water.
Inner West London Coroner Dr Paul Knapman said there appeared to have been a "double tragedy".
At a brief hearing at Westminster Coroner's Court, Speight's inquest was opened and adjourned following the formal identification of his body and a post-mortem.
Detective Inspector William Jordan, of British Transport Police, confirmed that a post-mortem had found that the cause of death was hanging and said police were not treating the death as suspicious.
He also confirmed to the coroner that he was aware of two suicide notes - one found on the presenter's person and another in a flat. He did not specify which flat but Speight's address was given as the address he formerly shared with Collins in Allitsen Road.
Following Collins's death, Speight moved in with her mother, Carmen, who reported him missing last Monday.
The inquest, which was adjourned until May 20, did not hear any details of exactly how long Speight had been hanging. But the coroner asked Mr Jordan to direct further inquiries towards the likely date and time.
Adjourning the case, Mr 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 May 20, 2008."
During the brief hearing, the court heard that he had been identified as a result of documentation found upon his person and registration details had been provided by his father, Oliver Speight.
