Channel 4’s powerful Investigative Documentary
“PETE DOHERTY, WHO KILLED MY SON?”
The documentary was aired on 25th September 2023.
(Link to full C4 documentary – Link to extract.)
My son, Mark, fell to his death minutes after being assaulted by Doherty’s cronies. The group walked round Mark’s body as he lay dying in the gutter. ‘Headlock’, Doherty’s minder, confessed to Mark’s murder, later retracted, & dismissed by Met Police.
That was in December 2006 – 18 years ago. The coroner declared an Open Verdict and ordered Met Police to reinvestigate.
BUT…I have had to drive the campaign to secure Justice for my son for the last 18 years. CCTV experts agree that Mark was pushed over a railing to his death, probably unconscious.
BUT…Why have Met Police repeatedly looked the other way? What is their aversion to crime in this case? – Celebrity privilege, conspiracy, cover-up, closing of ranks, corruption?
This is a tragic miscarriage of Justice; we will expose Met Police malpractice.
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“Ode” in memory of Mark. 2023
Emma, Mark’s younger sister, commissioned a piece to be written in memory of him last year, by her dear friend and composer Libby Croad. “Ode” was recorded and filmed at Tonbridge School Chapel in the summer of 2022. Emma is the violinist and Sarah Huson-Whyte, the cellist, is a close family friend and also played at Mark’s funeral in January 2007.
“Ode” is one continuous work, but in four distinct sections. It starts with a slow, still opening to set the scene. The second section is based on the form of an old English folk song called “Death and a Lady” where the protagonist meets Death on her journey. Libby felt that this was symbolic and poignant for Mark’s story. This moves into a faster, folk-inspired section to represent and celebrate Mark’s joie de vivre. The piece ends with a return to the original theme but with a more hopeful and uplifting feel.
ODE for violin and cello duo by Libby Croad performed by Emma Blanco & Sarah Huson-Whyte
The TENTH anniversary of Mark’s tragic death was commemorated by a very special event on 27th November 2016 at Westminster Cathedral Hall
Link to HD Version
Mark’s mother Sheila on BBC1 News – 2nd Dec 2016
Mark Blanco was unlawfully killed on 4th December 2006, now more than EIGHTEEN years ago, Why has this Met Police shambolic failure persisted? It is now TWELVE years since BBC2 Newsnight 6th Dec 2012 forensic evidence from CCTV suggests death fall Mark Blanco “dropped unconscious” – Newsnight and www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20635719
In July 2013 the programme’s discs were mislaid by police departments. After years of delay and procrastination, we demand Met resources are used, in whatever way necessary to discover truth and justice surrounding Mark’s murder.
The Met Police owe society an explanation of how Mark ended up dying in the gutter after being assaulted by Paul Roundhill in the company of Pete Doherty and his minder, Johnny Headlock.
Headlock’s extraordinary confrontation with Sheila Blanco, unreported until now – see Observer 29th June 2014
See the full account below:
This website is set up in memory of Mark Blanco. Mark was a talented individual who was killed in suspicious circumstances at a party with Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty.
Mark Blanco was due to play the lead in a new play that week and was keen to get some extra publicity for the production.
Six people, three men and three women who were at the party, claimed Mark caused an annoyance. Doherty’s minder at the time, Johnny Headlock, said the singer asked him to get rid of Mark. They evicted him – Roundhill had punched him several times and set fire to his hat with lighter fuel before doing so. But 10 minutes afterwards, Mark returned. A minute later he fell to his death. CCTV footage shows Doherty and a female friend, followed by Headlock, running away, swerving Mark’s body as they do so.
CCTV footage records Mark leaving the party twice. He immediately returned a second time and 56 seconds later he is seen falling to his death from the balcony.
One of the women at the party, Annabel Healdsmith, later admitted that Roundhill, Johnny Headlock and Doherty all went outside together to the balcony to eject Mark from the party. The three returned but Mark did not.
Three weeks after the incident Jonny Headlock walked into Bethnal Green police station and confessed to killing Mark Blanco. After being locked up, he retracted his statement and was allowed to leave by the police.
No one has ever been held accountable for Mark Blanco’s death. The police quickly attributed Mark’s death to an accident or suicide on the night of the tragedy. This was done without proper investigation and without interviewing key witnesses; Mark’s mother found the lens from her son’s glasses in the gutter outside the flat the day after he fell.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid rejected the conclusions of suicide, recorded an open verdict and asked the police to reopen the investigation on 4 October 2007.
“The sound of his (Mark’s) impact on the ground was heard by a person in a neighbouring flat in the block 18 of Fieldgate Mansions. This person also heard preceding the impact with the ground, the sounds of a number of people up and down the stairs preceding this final event.
………….I will no longer go on any further to consider the possibility that Mr Blanco committed suicide, I can exclude it unreservedly. On the evidence I have heard, my only conclusion can be an Open Verdict. I am going to ask the Metropolitan Police Service to review and re-open the investigation.” (Taken from the inquest transcript.)
Dr Corrina Cory, expert in Injury Biomechanics worked with sophisticated scanning, 3-D modeling, the original CCTV and human modeling simulations (watch video). Her findings were passed to Professor Wassersug, world expert in Neurobiology and Anatomy. His report concludes:
Given the nature of his (Mark’s) injuries, the two most likely explanations are that he was backed into the railing and pushed over, or that he was not conscious, and was dropped over the railing.
“We have now moved this case from suicide or accident to unlawful killing,” Michael Wolkind QC. Legal representative of Sheila Blanco, Mark’s mother.
“I am hugely indebted to Michael Wolkind,” says Sheila Blanco. “He has been deeply committed to securing Justice for Mark.( Interview of Michael Wolkind QC on Sky News)
“Having seen a flyer asking for funds to help with legal fees, Michael offered his services, since which time he has unstintingly supported me both professionally and personally. It was Michael’s brilliance at the Inquest of October 2007 into Mark’s untimely death at Poplar Coroner’s Court that turned the case round; Michael secured an Open Verdict and a Second Police Investigation.
“We all owe so much to Michael’s tactical skills, extreme kindness and humanity.”
This website has been set up to keep track of the case developments & media articles on Mark’s death. This has been done at the request of Sheila Blanco, Mark’s mother. 
Donations to help her fight are deeply appreciated, (however small). Please use the PayPal button to the right of this page or view the bank details here. You are welcome to contact Sheila before donating.
It’s not just a fight for justice for Mark, it’s a fight for justice for any human being. The police force in this country have let us down for sixteen years.
Update: Watch the video on YouTube