Natasha Collins

Natasha Louise Collins (7 September 1976 – 3 January 2008) was an English actress and model. Following a car crash that curtailed her career, she fatally overdosed on cocaine, which Mark Speight, her fiancé, was initially suspected of supplying, but he was not charged. He later committed suicide due to being unable to cope with the grief from her death.

Natasha Collins
Born
Natasha Louise Collins

(1976-09-07)7 September 1976
Luton, Bedfordshire, England
Died3 January 2008(2008-01-03) (aged 31)
St John's Wood, London, England
Cause of deathDrug overdose
Resting placeEdmonton Cemetery, Edmonton, London, England
Occupation(s)Model, actress
Years active1998–2008
PartnerMark Speight (2005–2008; her death)

Career

Educated at St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School in Finchley, north London,[1] Collins initially worked as a model, and was still represented by Ugly Rage Models at the time of her death.[2] Collins first appeared on television in the Brechin Productions children's show See It Saw It, in which she played See, one of two court jesters in the court of the King, played by Mark Speight.[3]

Trying to break into more adult television, she later appeared in Hallmark/NBC's The Tenth Kingdom and ITV1's Real Women. She also featured in a small number of episodes of the BBC emergency services programme 999 Lifesavers, and one episode of the popular children's television series Chucklevision as the Spanish Princess. She also worked in film and theatre, as well as presenting corporate videos.[4]

In 2001, Collins was cast in a main role in the Channel 4 show Hollyoaks, but later the same day was involved in a serious car crash.[5] The incident left her with seizures that curtailed her career.[6] Whilst recovering, she began dating Speight,[5] and the couple became engaged in Barbados in 2005.[7]

Death

At 1:20 pm on 3 January 2008, police were called to the North West London home of Collins and her fiancé, television presenter Mark Speight, where Collins was found dead in a bath. Speight was arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying class A drugs, and was bailed to return to the police station for questioning in early February.[8]

The subsequent postmortem examination proved to be inconclusive, requiring additional toxicology tests.[9] The inquest, opened on 8 January 2008, heard that the death was not thought to be suspicious, but that it was "subject to further investigation".[10]

On 2 April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure after Collins was found with scalds covering about 60% of her body and a "'very significant' amount of cocaine in her system at the time". Speight had been arrested immediately following Collins's death, but was not charged with any offence.[11]

Speight later committed suicide and his body later found by police on the roof of MacMillan House next to London's Paddington Railway Station on 13 April 2008. He was said to have killed himself because he could not cope with the grief of Collins's death. She is buried at Edmonton Cemetery in Edmonton, north London, England.[12][13]

References
  1. David Leppard; Sarah-Kate Templeton (6 January 2008). "The real face of cocaine culture?". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  2. "Natasha Collins". Ugly Enterprise Ltd. 4 January 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  3. "Pictures of See It Saw It". Brechin. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  4. Sherwin, Adam (5 January 2008). "Children's TV presenter arrested on suspicion of his fiancee's murder". Times. London. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  5. Jay Burridge (18 April 2008). "Mark and me". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  6. Rayner, Gordon; Gammell, Caroline; Steele, John (4 January 2008). "TV host arrested after fiancee's 'cocaine' death". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 7 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  7. Stephen Armstrong (14 April 2008). "Mark Speight". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  8. "BBC Presenter Quizzed Over Body in Bath". Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  9. Ryan, Rosalind (7 January 2008). "Postmortem on Speight's fiancee 'inconclusive'". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  10. "Presenter death 'not suspicious'". BBC News. 8 January 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
  11. "Cocaine Death of Children's TV Girl". Sky News. BSkyB. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
  12. "TV host Mark Speight 'found dead'". BBC News. 13 April 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  13. "TV presenter 'was found hanged'". BBC News. 14 April 2008. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
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