After pushing her son from a speedboat’s path, the singer was killed. Her family still seeks answers amid allegations of a protected tycoon.
On the 25th anniversary of a tragedy that silenced one of music’s most distinctive voices, new allegations have cast a long shadow over the death of Kirsty MacColl.
The singer, beloved for her gritty duet on The Pogues’ Christmas classic ‘Fairytale of New York,’ was killed instantly in 2000 when a speedboat struck her as she surfaced from a scuba dive in Cozumel, Mexico.
Now, her ex-husband and the song’s producer, Steve Lillywhite, has publicly called the official investigation a “cover-up”.
He alleges the truth was buried to protect Mexican supermarket billionaire Guillermo González Nova, who was on the boat and was its only licensed driver.
Instead, a 26-year-old deckhand, José Cen Yam, was convicted. He avoided prison by paying a £61 fine, a resolution the MacColl family has long rejected, calling Yam a paid “fall guy”.
MacColl’s sons, then 14 and 15, witnessed the horror. Her eldest son, Jamie, was pushed to safety by his mother seconds before the impact.
For 25 years, the family’s quest for accountability has hit a wall, with their “Justice for Kirsty” campaign exhausting all legal avenues in Mexico.
“It was never about money,” her son Louis said. “It was about someone taking responsibility”.
