‘Well I am innocent’: Pete Doherty’s awkward interview with Jonathan Ross after house party ‘murder’ of Cambridge graduate resurfaces in new Channel 4 documentary
- The clip resurfaced in ‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?’ which aired yesterday
An awkward Pete Doherty interview in which he insists to Jonathan Ross he is ‘innocent’ has resurfaced in a documentary about the death of a Cambridge graduate at a party he attended.
Footage from bizarre televised encounter was shown as part of a new Channel 4 documentary into the ‘murder’ of Mark Blanco, who died after a house party where The Libertines singer was present.
Appearing on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross to promote his new work for the band Babyshambles, the controversial singer appeared to joke about his run ins with the law.
It came after 30-year-old Mark suffered fatal head injuries after allegedly being thrown from a first-floor flat at a party hosted by Doherty’s friend and fellow drug addict agent Paul Roundhill in 2006.
His mother Sheila Blanco has campaigned for justice, and a new documentary ‘Pete Doherty, Who Killed My Son?’ which chronicles the mysterious goings on that night was released yesterday.
Peter Doherty told Jonathan Ross he was ‘innocent’ when talking about his run ins with the law during an interview over a decade ago
The clip resurfaced as part of a documentary about the death of Mark Blanco, who suffered fatal head injuries after attending a party where Doherty was present
In the clip of his interview with Jonathan Ross, Doherty appeared to joke about his previous arrests
As part of the programme, the documentary makers interviewed Sheila, fellow partygoer Naomi Stark and an FBI expert who said he believes Mark was deliberately thrown to his death.
READ MORE HERE: Actor who plunged to his death while partying with Pete Doherty in London flat
Doherty was at the party with his entourage, including his ‘minder’ Jonathan Jeannevol, known locally as ‘Johnny Headlock’, who later confessed to killing Mark before retracting his statement. To date no one has every been charged over his death.
In the show documentary makers played an interview clip during which Doherty appeared to make light of his numerous arrests and brushes with the law.
After walking on stage and sitting on the red couch opposite the host, Ross praises his guest by saying: ‘What’s charming about some of your work so far is there’s a kind of innocence to it.’
However, the conversation turns awkward when Doherty replies by saying ‘right’ and stares back at the interviewer, sparking laughter from the audience.
He then says ‘well I am innocent’, before turning to face the crowd and shrugging his shoulders.
He added: ‘I’m fighting a losing battle. The second to- third to- the fourth to last, the fifth to last time I was nicked’, sparking Ross to quip ‘that was quite a lot of numbers you had to go through.’
Undeterred, Doherty said: ‘The policeman actually had a badge on saying “Pete Doherty is innocent”.’
When asked if the officer got him to sign it afterwards, Doherty shook his head, before revealing that he had been asked to sign things in the past by police.
Dropping his head onto the sofa to mimic being arrested by the police, he said: ‘I’ve been faced before like that [and they’ve asked] “Pete you don’t mind afterwards if sign something for my son do you?”‘
Mark Blanco was left with non-survivable head injuries after allegedly being thrown off a first-floor balcony
Pictured: Mark Blanco, actor, with his mum Sheila, on graduation day in June 1997
The clip was shown in the programme which followed Mark’s still-heartbroken mother, Sheila Blanco, in her quest to find out what truly happened to her son on the night he died.
Less than a minute after Mark had entered the building for a second time – having briefly left – he was found unconscious beneath a first-floor balcony.
READ MORE HERE: The curse of Pete Doherty: Three tragic deaths, one chilling connection
CCTV footage subsequently showed Doherty with another girlfriend, 19-year-old Kate Russell-Pavier, and Jeannevol fleeing the scene, callously swerving Mark’s body.
The trio got a taxi to a local hotel, where Doherty proceeded to trash his room.
Two years after Mark lost his life, and following an initial bungled police investigation, a senior detective brought in to re-examine the case admitted the Met had ruled out an accidental fall or suicide – the latter initially put forward by police as the most likely cause of Mark’s death.
Aside from the unlikely possibility of what the officer called ‘a deliberate jump not intended to cause harm’, that leaves only a criminal act on the part of others who were present that night.
Two years after Mark lost his life, and following an initial bungled police investigation, a senior detective brought in to re-examine the case admitted the Met had ruled out an accidental fall or suicide – the latter initially put forward by police as the most likely cause of Mark’s death.
Aside from the unlikely possibility of what the officer called ‘a deliberate jump not intended to cause harm’, that leaves only a criminal act on the part of others who were present that night.
Sheila has always been convinced, as are many others, that Mark was pushed off the balcony.
The programme features new testimony from partygoer Naomi Stirk, who recalls that, amid a ‘sinister’ atmosphere, she had watched Paul Roundhill and Jeannevol physically escort Mark out of the flat.
‘From where I was sitting you could see through to the hallway and the kitchen, and there is a point for which I cannot account for the whereabouts of everyone,’ she says. ‘I don’t know what happened, but I know that something horrid went on.’
Both these developments, Sheila believes, must compel the Met – who have never formally closed their investigation – to re-interview the witnesses who were present.
‘I have always believed that everyone who was in that flat that night knows what happened,’ she says. Dignified and composed, Sheila is a piano teacher and teacher of English to foreign students who is now in her 70s.
In 2007, within six months of Mark’s death, Doherty released a single, Lost Art Of Murder, with his group Babyshambles. He audaciously recorded a promotional video for it in Roundhill’s flat.
Last year he published his autobiography, A Likely Lad, with a chapter about Mark’s death which Sheila claims is ‘full of inaccuracies’ and in which he maintains he fled the scene to protect himself and his teenage girlfriend.
He denied knowing how Mark’s body had ended up on the ground.
In a statement given to the documentary makers, the Met said: ‘Our sympathies remain with the family of Mark Blanco following his death in Whitechapel in 2006.
‘Police conducted an investigation of all the evidence available… This investigation concluded there was no evidence to suggest the death was suspicious – a decision that was supported by the pathologist.
‘Following an inquest that concluded in October 2007, an open verdict was recorded.’
As well as expert analysis of CCTV footage being undertaken, the statement added: ‘Mr Blanco’s death has been subject to various reviews by the Met; where areas for re-investigation were highlighted, these were progressed by homicide detectives.
‘The investigation into the death of Mark Blanco remains ongoing and any new evidence or information will be assessed by detectives.
‘We will appraise Mr Blanco’s family of any significant developments in this case.’
In a series of exchanges, Roundhill said his sympathy lay with Sheila. ‘Mark was my good friend… I would not protect anyone who had a part in his death,’ he said. ‘Mark and his family deserve justice.’
Doherty told the programme: ‘I am sorry for Mrs Blanco’s loss and I welcome any assistance people can give her to help her come to terms with what happened.’
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