Actor who plunged to his death while partying with Pete Doherty in London flat was likely ‘pushed’ FBI expert says – as man’s heartbroken mother hits out at police investigation
- Mark Blanco died from head injuries after leaving a flat party in December 2006
An actor who fell from a balcony to his death at a London party after an argument with Libertines frontman Peter Doherty was likely ‘thrown’, an expert has claimed.
Mark Blanco, 30, died in 2006 after falling from a block of flats at an event attended by a number of friends and the then-Babyshambles singer-songwriter.
Police investigated the case, and Doherty was implicated after an inquest into the actor’s death, but there have been no charges to date.
Doherty wrote in a blog post in 2011, now inaccessible, that neither he nor anybody else was with Blanco just before he died.
‘When he fell or jumped he was alone,’ he wrote, according to NME.
But CCTV analyst and FBI instructor Grant Frederick has now alleged, based on fresh analysis of footage of the fall, that ‘there couldn’t be just one person on the balcony’.
He told The Mirror: ‘What I would see is that Mark has come out and somebody has taken Mark and is putting him over the balcony.
‘If the measurements and the distance are correct, then Mark was thrown over the balcony, Mark was murdered.’
Frederick claimed he had asked the Metropolitan Police to perform his analysis ten years ago, but they had failed to.
Blanco’s mother has continued to seek answers to the unresolved questions around her son’s death, reportedly spending £100,000 on her own investigation.
Sheila Blanco believes the Met made mistakes in the investigation, including missing key evidence, and will feature in a new Channel 4 documentary, ‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?’, on September 25.
Peter Doherty performs at the Arenes de Lutece, Paris, on June 21, 2021, as part of the annual Make Music Day
Sheila Blanco (left) and her son, Mark, who died from head injuries in December 2006
Mark Blanco, an aspiring actor, had been leafletting for his new play before making his way to Paul Roundhill’s apartment in East London on December 2, 2006.
He was reportedly one of six in attendance at the party, including Doherty.
Naomi Stirk, another guest, has claimed that Blanco had been drinking and ‘was on a different wavelength’.
Blanco had allegedly become ‘aggressively excited’ towards Doherty, according to a contemporary statement by Roundhill.
‘When Mark arrived he was extremely excited about the play. He couldn’t stop talking about it. He had had quite a lot to drink and was aggressively excited.
‘At one point he had Pete pinned to the wall and was waving a rolled up promotional poster for the play at him. Pete looked a bit white and Mark was getting out of order.’
Roundhill claimed he dragged Blanco out of the flat by his coat because he ‘wouldn’t leave and was being aggressive’.
Blanco was found lying unconscious and covered in blood by another guest, Annabel, as she left the party later on.
Blanco was taken to the Royal London hospital and later pronounced dead on December 3, 2006.
Scotland Yard gave the cause of death as severe head injuries consistent with a fall.
A statement at the time said: ‘At this early stage it does not appear there was any third party involvement in the incident. However, police retain an open mind.’
Police said in a postmortem examination at the time that the talented Cambridge graduate appeared to have fallen to his death from the third floor flat in the early hours of December 3.
They said that the portmortem suggested there was no third party involvement in Blanco’s death.
Doherty admitted in his book, A Likely Lad, that he ‘legged it’ after finding Blanco because he did not want any trouble with the police – following arrests in 2005.
But five years later, the Crown Prosecution Service ruled in 2011 that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to charge Doherty over his death.
Jenny Hopkins, a spokesperson for the CPS said of the verdict: ‘None of the evidence is capable of establishing to the required standard that Mr Blanco was thrown or pushed from the balcony or that any other individual was present at the time he fell.’
Blanco’s family were said to have reacted furiously at the decision, according to NME.
His mother, Sheila, is now to feature in a new Channel 4 documentary, ‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?’
The teacher from Guildford believes the Met made mistakes in the investigation and lied about watching the CCTV footage, according to The Sun.
She says the footage shows a ‘callous’ Doherty with Johnny ‘Headloack’ Jeannevol ‘stepping’ over Mark after he fell.
Ms Stirk has claimed: ‘I don’t know if it was murder or manslaughter but I know something went on and it wasn’t accidental.’
Peter Doherty and Carl Barât of The Libertines perform at Benicàssim on July 19, 2014
Carl Barât and Peter Doherty perform at Castlefield Bowl, Manchester, England, July 1, 2022
Ms Blanco told The Sun that she has spent over £100,000 conducting her own investigation into her son’s murder.
She says that she has been repeatedly ignored by the Metropolitan Police and that she will not rest until she gets justice.
‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?’ will air on Channel 4 at 10:00pm on September 25, 2023.
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