Speight hanged himself, inquest finds

BBC children's television presenter Mark Speight hanged himself with his shoelaces, an inquest has found.

Speight was found dead at Paddington Station on April 13. Dr. Paul Knapman, coroner for Westminster, recorded a verdict of suicide at Westminster Coroner's Court today.

The star had been "devastated" three months earlier, the coroner said, when his fiancée Natasha Collins died after taking cocaine, alcohol and sleeping pills.

A previous hearing was told that Speight left two suicide notes - one on his person and one at a flat.

The former Smart host was arrested after Collins was found dead at their North London home, but no charges were brought. She was found to have died after taking the drugs and getting into a scalding hot bath.

> Obituary: Mark Speight