The ‘curse’ of Pete Doherty engulfs staid Radio 4 show

Dissolute musician Pete Doherty, exfiance of Kate Moss, continues to provoke strong passions.

the BBC has been lambasted for rejecting a bereaved mother’s plea to remove him from a Radio 4 programme.

sheila Blanco, whose son Mark died in suspicious circumstances at a party attended by Doherty in 2006, wrote to the producer of loose ends saying it would be ‘ethically wrong’ to give Doherty a platform to promote his new album unless he

was asked about his actions surrounding the death. Her plea fell on deaf ears and Doherty appeared on the show last saturday.

in reply, the programme’s producer, sukey Firth, told her: ‘We understand how distressing the events around the death of Mark Blanco must be to all those who knew and loved him.

‘However, no charges have ever been brought against Peter Doherty in connection with the events and, as such, we do not consider it inappropriate for him to appear on loose ends as a musical performer, after a successful previous performance a few years ago, and to share

new work.’ Mark Blanco, 30, was found dying in a street in East London. He passed away in hospital the next day from serious head injuries.

After spending more than £100,000 on a private investigation, Mrs Blanco said CCTV footage suggested foul play, with someone deliberately dropping Mark’s body off the firstfloor balcony of the block of flats where the party was held.

Apart from Blanco, there were six other people present including Doherty. Despite two police investigations, no one has been charged. A coroner’s inquest recorded an open verdict.

Mrs Blanco tells me: ‘It is despicable that the BBC choose to promote an individual who has shown a reprehensible lack of humanity with regard to a man’s murder.

‘What is certain is that he was there that night in December 2006 and knows what happened.The BBC’s decision is particularly ironic because the host of Loose Ends, Clive Anderson, is a criminal barrister.

‘In a further irony, another BBC programme, Newsnight, investigated Mark’s death in 2012 and uncovered important new evidence pointing to foul play.

‘The BBC is ignoring its own journalism.’

The BBC declined to comment.