10 November 2023 , 19:42
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Rocker Pete Doherty has denied any knowledge of how the actor Mark Blanco fell or was pushed, to his death from a balcony in 2006.
The Libertines frontman, 44, told film-maker Louis Theroux the anger from Blanco’s mother Sheila towards him over the death of her son was “misplaced”. But he admitted regretting running away on the night 30-year-old Mark fell from the balcony of a flat in East London, calling it “shady and f***ed up”.
CCTV captured him fleeing the scene, which he said he did to avoid being arrested for possession of class-A drugs. The singer, who lives in Normandy, France with his wife Katia and baby daughter Billie-May, said he understood why Sheila still wanted answers.
He told Theroux: “You can’t blame her for that. Her son fell to his death and some people, I think, genuinely, believe he was thrown to his death. And then I’m on camera running away. “I’ve never met Sheila Blanco, but I can understand her anger. I think her anger at me, well, it is misplaced.”
Mark Blanco fell from a balcony in East London where Pete Doherty was partyingBlanco died from head injuries in hospital a day after he was found under the balcony at the home of Doherty’s literary agent and friend Paul Roundhill. Doherty said: “No one knows what happened because no one saw it. I certainly didn’t see it.”
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The singer, who dated model Kate Moss in the Noughties, told the BBC Two documentary he should have stayed at the scene. He said: “I probably should have stood my ground, taken a deep breath and had the f***ing balls to stay there, flush everything down the toilet and be there when the police came.
“But I didn’t want to see the police. It was a f***ing inconvenience to me and that’s an awful thing to say. He’s lying dying in the street and I was concerned about getting nicked for possession.”
Pete opened up about his immediate actions to Louis Theroux (BBC/Mindhouse Productions/Ryan McNamara)He added: “I just remember feeling so much f***ing relief when I told the police what I knew and they believed me.” He admitted he and Blanco did not get on. He said: “There was a bit of friction between us.”
The singer, who is clean after years of addiction to heroin and crack, said on that night he had been at a party which went “well out of control” so a group had gone to Roundhill’s flat instead. He said:: “Mark was there and he was drunk and there was a scene. He was out of his nut. Theroux pointed out that Doherty’s minder Johnny Jeannevol had a bust-up with Blanco that night. Doherty said: “We all had an altercation with Mark Blanco. There was pushing and shoving. The next thing he’s on the floor and his skull’s cracked open.”
Blanco’s inquest heard Jeannevol had confessed to pushing Blanco off the balcony, but retracted it, saying he was high on cocaine when he made it, and was released without charge. Last month, the Mirror reported that an FBI expert had concluded Blanco was probably murdered. Grant Frederick, who examined CCTV footage of the fall, said: “Somebody has taken Mark and is putting him over the balcony.”
At the launch for the series last month, Theroux said he believed Doherty. He said: “I felt he was truthful emotionally.”
- Louis Theroux Interviews – Pete Doherty is on BBC Two, 9pm, Tuesday.