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Memorial service to honour late TV presenter Mark Speight

06/08/2008

The late children's television presenter Mark Speight will be honoured with a memorial service in London later today.

The CBBC host was found hanged at a building next to London's Paddington station in April following the death of his fiancee, fellow presenter Natasha Collins.

And a service to be held on Wednesday afternoon at the Parish Church of Saint Paul in Covent Garden - known as the 'actor's church' - will honour the life of the SMart host.

The memorial will coincide with the launch of a foundation established by Speight's father to help nurture artistic talent in under-18s.

Ms Collins was found dead in a bath tub at the couple's flat in January after ingesting cocaine, sleeping pills and vodka.

She was discovered with burns covering 60 per cent of her body and Mr Speight was initially arrested on suspicion of murder but later released.

Speight's father later said his 42-year-old son had been "constantly full of this remorse about her".

"You felt that he was wondering could he have done more, the question we'd all ask ourselves," he added.

"The answer is he was asleep. She was found in the bath and the situation is quite clear in my mind - it was a tragic accident."

SP8 Of The Art - The Mark Speight Foundation - was created in May and will encourage artistic endeavours in the young.