Tragic story behind Kirsty MacColl’s dying as man driving speedboat that killed her speaks out for first time

The tragic dying of Kirsty MacColl is a subject of dialog that rears its head each Christmas.

It has been 1 / 4 of a century because the ‘Fairytale of New York’ singer handed away in extraordinarily devastating circumstances. Additional entwining her title with the festive season, the lethal incident which took the lifetime of the British singer, 41, occurred simply seven days earlier than 25 December.

25 years on from the horror speedboat crash that killed her, the person who was driving the vessel has now spoken out for the primary time. Jose Cen Yam, who was discovered responsible of culpable murder following MacColl’s dying, claimed that he was behind the wheel when the singer was struck – and he has now shared his facet of the tragic story.

Who was Kirsty MacColl?

Because the daughter of people singer Ewan MacColl and dancer Jean Newlove, MacColl had music in her DNA.

The Croydon-born star first got here onto the scene in 1978 when lending her vocals to a track with a neighborhood punk rock band, which ended up incomes her a document take care of Stiff Data. Her debut single They Do not Know peaked at quantity two on the charts after its launch in 1979.

After releasing a number of singles, she left the label and joined Polydor Data, which is when her success actually began to skyrocket.

MacColl, who additionally lent her singing skills to the likes of The Smiths and Easy Minds with backing vocals, went on to churn out different hits akin to There is a Man Works Down the Chip Store Swears He is Elvis. However her huge break lastly got here in 1987 following the discharge of The Pogues Christmas anthem Fairytale of New York, thrusting her into the mainstream highlight.

Simply 13 years after recording her iconic duet with the late Shane MacGowan, who died in November 2023, information broke that MacColl’s life had tragically been reduce quick.

How did Kirsty MacColl die?

MacColl has been recording a radio present in Cuba for the BBC when she determined to increase her journey and journey to Cozumel, Mexico, along with her boyfriend James Knight and her two sons Louis, then 13, and Jamie, who was age 15.

On 18 December, 2000, they went diving within the Chankanaab reef, in an space the place watercraft have been restricted from getting into.

However because the mum-of-two resurfaced along with her boys, they noticed a speedboat veering in direction of them – and she or he admirably pushed her kids out of harms manner. Sadly, MacColl shouldered the affect and ended up being struck by one of many speedboats propellers, leaving her with unsurvivable accidents to her head and chest.

Her youngest son Louis later harrowingly recalled how he was left ‘swimming in Mummy’s blood’, including: “I screamed that she’d been hit, and to swim the opposite manner and never look again.”

In accordance with an post-mortem carried out in London by forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, MacColl died immediately. She was cremated following a funeral service at Mortlake Crematorium in Kew on 20 January, 2001.

What has the speedboat driver stated?

Jose Cen Yam is a former deckhand who labored for Carlos González Nova, the founding father of the Comercial Mexicana grocery store chain and the brother of the chain’s multimillionaire president, Guillermo González Nova.

Breaking his silence on the incident that led to MacColl’s dying, he has insisted that the contents of his police assertion from 25 years in the past spells out the ‘fact’ about what occurred.

Regardless of hypothesis that he could have taken the autumn for another person, Cen Yam defiantly told the Mail on Sunday: “It was me. I’ve at all times advised the reality about this.”

Recalling the fateful day he careered into the singer, he claimed the speedboat was travelling at ‘about 5 miles an hour’.

“I did not see anybody within the water, nobody,” Cen Yam stated. “However then I heard a propeller make a really unusual noise. It was actually bizarre, a whirring like one thing hit it.

“There was no bang within the boat, simply the noise of a propeller doing this bizarre stuff. I assumed, ‘I’ve gone over one thing’. So I slowed and went to the again of the boat and I noticed her there.”

He stated there was ‘nothing he may do’ to attempt to assist her as MacColl’s accidents have been so extreme, though he clung onto a portion of her scuba gear for round half-hour to make sure she did not float away.

“I did not pull her physique out of the water, we simply needed to let her be there till assist got here,” Cen Yam stated, whereas including: “I do not really feel disgrace over this. It was an accident. I do not really feel it was my fault.”

He was sentenced to 2 years and ten months in jail after being discovered responsible of culpable murder, however finally dodged jail time after as a substitute paying a positive of $90 (roughly £60 in 2000).

What has MacColl’s ex stated about an alleged ‘cover-up’?

Though Cen Yam has taken the blame for driving the speedboat and careering into MacColl, her former husband would not imagine that is truly what occurred.

Music producer Steve Lillywhite, 70, has sensationally claimed that ‘nobody believes’ that the ex-deckhand was truly answerable for her dying.

Talking to The Solar, the daddy of MacColl’s sons stated: “They stated that it was a younger child driving, however nobody believes that.

“I believe they only didn’t need to have an infinite lawsuit as a result of he was one of many richest guys in Mexico.”

Discussing how the household address the fixed reminders of MacColl at Christmas, he defined listening to her vocals on ‘Fairytale of New York’ is ‘bittersweet’ for him and his youngsters.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling as a result of whenever you hear Fairytale, it does provide you with a very good feeling. It makes you consider Christmas and every part,” Lillywhite, who produced the hit observe, stated.

“And you realize, we are able to’t convey Kirsty or Shane again, however it additionally reminds us of these individuals who have handed. They each died close to Christmas. That’s the bizarre factor.”

Regardless of recommendations that Cen Yam was not driving the speedboat, the married grandad insists that no person ‘put stress on him to confess to something he did not do’.