Blanco death: CCTV suggests he was dropped from the balcony

You remember how Pete Doherty told the NME that the police had CCTV evidence which showed Mark Blanco fell "unassisted" from the balcony the night he died?

Newsnight have had forensic experts review the CCTV footage, and their opinion is that someone dropped Mark Blanco over the balcony:

Grant Fredericks, a leading US video forensics analyst who trains FBI agents, says the images of Blanco coming off the balcony are "very consistent with a person being carried and literally dropped over the edge of the balcony".

John Kennedy, who has given video forensics testimony in scores of cases in the UK and overseas, says of Mr Blanco's fall: "There's no defensive movement whatsoever. It's literally a drop from outside the rail.

"The only explanation I can think of is that somebody might have dropped him off the balcony. He doesn't climb over the railing himself. He doesn't jump. He just suddenly appears outside the railing and falls."

The suggestion of no defensive injuries - consistent with unconsciousness - is in line with a bio-mechanics investigation and a neurobiologist's report, both commissioned by Sheila Blanco, Mark Blanco's mother.

We're no closer knowing what really happened, of course.

Pete Doherty's blog still has this claim on it:

WHEN HE [Blanco] LEFT THE FLAT HE Was alone and when he fell or jumped he was alone. THAT is what happened. he either fell or was making an extreme point about the nature of life imitating art.

It doesn't seem to be a story that will simply go away.