I Believe The Mexican Fined For Killing Kirsty Was A Fall Guy; Almost

Vicky Allan

ON the Mexican island of Cozumel many of the locals are wary of speaking about Guillermo Gonzalez Nova. Jean MacColl recalls the words of one anonymous man: "Oh, he's the don. His name is law around here. I have to be careful. I have a family to keep."

Despite this, MacColl is undaunted. For the past few years she has been trying to meet "the don", has visited Mexico and has written him a letter, which she knows he received. "I mean here I am," she says, "a grandmother, and he daren't face me. I've been asking to see him for a long time, but he's hiding. Come out, come out, wherever you are".

Gonzalez Nova is ranked among the top seven wealthiest men in Mexico, owner of 170 supermarkets and many restaurants, and notorious for being at the centre of a dispute surrounding the building of some of his warehouses on the historic site of Casino de la Selva, a 1930s hotel and arts centre which was once a retreat for Mexican intellectuals. He is also the man Jean MacColl believes is responsible for the death of her daughter, the singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl.

At first it seemed like a simple accident of negligence. When, in 2003, Jose Cen Yam, an inexperienced and unlicensed seaman, was found guilty of culpable homicide, it seemed a sadly depressing endnote to what had been an admirable life. While on holiday, in December 2000, MacColl had taken her two sons Jamie, 15, and Louis, 14, on their first diving expedition. Rising from their dive, she had turned to Louis and smiled. "Wow," he said. "Great," she replied. But within seconds, she became aware of a 31ft powerboat, the Percolita, bearing down on them at speed. The boat belonged to Gonzalez Nova, who was on board at the time with his family. MacColl pushed her eldest son, Jamie, aside, but was caught by the propeller. Her body was almost severed in two and was carried some distance through the water. Her sons were left "swimming in blood".

The coroner's report at the time said that Kirsty was sliced open from the back of the neck to her waist. Paramedics at the scene were reported to have vomited. Jose Cen Yam, who said he was at the helm of the Percolita, was allowed to walk free, after paying a fine of (pounds) 61 in lieu of going to jail.

Even now, Kirsty seems the major resident of MacColl's small Ealing flat: photographs crammed across the mantelpiece, framed discs over the wall, boxes of protest leaflets on the floor, and her voice in the air as a new CD box-set plays over the stereo. She talks of the injustice of that paltry (pounds) 61, of how their last words to each other had been, "I love you mum", "Love you too".

For the last few years "justice for Kirsty" has been MacColl's preoccupation - and by this she means, she stresses, "criminal justice, not compensation", the conviction of the man who really killed her daughter. MacColl believes that Cen Yam is a fall guy, protecting someone else from facing criminal charges. "He couldn't," MacColl says, "even show the basic seaman's book, the little logbook that they have. He didn't know what a knot was in nautical terms. He had never driven a powerboat before".

Currently, the case is under consideration by the federal prosecutor in Mexico for a fresh inquiry. Research, MacColl says, done by a New York private investigator she had hired and a BBC television crew who visited Mexico with her this year, has brought to light new evidence which she believes will lead to a recognition of the true culprit.

Already they have accumulated a mesh of witness testimonies. Ivan Diaz, the divemaster in charge of the expedition, and who was also in the water as the boat hit Kirsty, claimed from the very start that Cen Yam was not the driver of the boat, and that he had seen him at the back of the Percolita, leaping forward to help. Local newspapers reported that, straight after the accident, on stepping ashore Gonzalez Nova allegedly admitted to being at the helm, and he was seen on TV being taken away in a police car for questioning.

Cen Yam, however, has disappeared. "We do know that a witness saw Cen Yam a day or so after the accident," says MacColl. "He had got very drunk in the pub and was celebrating, and he said that his boss had asked him to take responsibility for the accident and if he did he would give him a good lot of money. So he was going to buy himself a new house. I don't know if he's bought a new house because I can't find him."

MacColl's picture of the accident is a fragmented one, a collection of often contradictory viewpoints. Initially those on the Percolita claimed that the boat was moving slowly, but her grandson Louis maintains that it was going so fast the bow was high out of the water.

There were claims too that the dive was taking place outside the restricted area of the National Maritime Park, but new evidence handed to the federal prosecutor disputes this. Moreover, MacColl insists her daughter wouldn't have endangered her sons by taking them into the wrong area.

"The people on the boat [Percolita] said they were in deep water, that it was outside the reef when the accident happened and it wasn't. Kirsty was killed within the safe barrier of the maritime park. She would never have taken her children outside."

Witnesses say they saw Gonzalez Nova shouting and screaming and blaming everyone else. MacColl, however, dismisses this.

In recent months too, other more personal pieces of the jigsaw have started to slide into place. Jamie, Kirsty's oldest son, who was also hit in the accident but survived, had never talked about the experience. MacColl explains: "It wasn't until two weeks ago, when he read a little bit I had said in the Daily Telegraph [saying that both sons were pushed aside by Kirsty], that he said, 'No, granny, it was me she pushed aside'. That was all he said. And he was the one who had his head hit and was grazed all the way down his side. I mean that's very hard for a young boy. This man [Gonzalez Nova] has a lot to answer for."

While visiting Cozumel, MacColl carried out a memorial service to her daughter on the spot above the Chankanaab reef where she died. She also met the dive instructor, Diaz, who had given up work and had not dived since.

"He's a lovely man," she says. "Very clear about what happened. It had affected him badly because diving was his life. When we met him he cried. It had been on his mind all that time."

She'd also hoped that while out there she could confront Gonzalez Nova. It's a meeting she has imagined many times. "I would have a lot to say to him." But he has evaded her, the only response she has managed to prompt coming from one of his sons. "The TV crew went to his house, and when he came to the door he said, 'Oh, she's [Jean MacColl] sick or something. She's only in it for the money.'

"How dare he say I'm in it for the money," she adds. "I'm not asking for money. I'm asking for justice, very different."

If her attempt to get a retrial fails, she says, she will continue, proceeding to a higher court then finally to the International Court of Human Rights. For her this is a matter not just of justice for her dead daughter, but also of the state of human rights in Mexico, of not standing by while corruption takes place and the rich go free. It's as if this 81-year-old grandmother wants to bulldoze her way into the country and clean it out.

And she has some support - the Mexican government, which has long been anxious to dispel the cloud of corruption that hovers over the country.

"They believe in human rights and the president [Vicente Fox] has said they want to work with human rights. The Mexicans want us to be very frank and they want the media to get this out. Because they are trying to clean up Mexico.

"This government said they've got 70 years of corruption to deal with and they were very grateful that we pinpointed this and they want us to succeed."

MacColl talks with ease about her daughter's case, even about the accident itself - it's as if this is what keeps her going. Meanwhile, it's Kirsty's music that allows her to stay connected to her daughter. She listens to it much of the time, lets it wallpaper her existence.

It's only now, she says, that she's really beginning to understand some of the lyrics. "She wrote her own autobiography in her songs," she says, "the sad ones, the happy ones, the in-between ones."

Only when I ask her which songs mean most to her does she turn silent and change the subject. What she's doing, she says, is what Kirsty would have wanted.

"She believed in justice. I'm focused my dear. I'm focused. First of all it's my nature, and secondly she's my daughter."

Jean MacColl will be appearing on a panel at the Edinburgh Television Festival on August 28 and a BBC 4 documentary, Who Killed Kirsty MacColl? will be screened in September.

Those who wish to contribute to the campaign should visit its website www.justiceforkirsty.org They followed a traditional path to the top 10 of the best femalefolkies Joni Mitchell 1943- Born in Alberta, Canada, solo artist Mitchell began singing whilst being treated for childhood polio as a way of entertaining her fellow hospital patients. A self-taught guitarist, she found fame when she moved to Detroit in the 1960s. Her songs were also covered by folk- rockers Fairport Convention.

Sandy Denny 1947-78 Denny was training to be a nurse when she began singing in the mid-1960s after a bit of encouragement from Simon and Garfunkel.

Best known for her vocals with Fairport Convention. Died from injuries sustained after falling down stairs.

Kathryn Williams 1974- Liverpool-born Williams started writing songs while studying art in Newcastle. Released her first album in 1999: it cost (pounds) 80 to make. Mercury Music Prize nominee in 2000.

Joan Baez 1941- Born in Staten Island, New York, Baez has enjoyed commercial success and critical acclaim for more than 35 years. First gained recognition at the Newport Folk Festival in 1959, her first three eponymous albums, released in the early 1960s, were bestsellers. Political activist Baez is also a champion of the protest song.

Sheena Wellington 1944- Traditional Scottish singer who sang Burns's A Man's A Man at the opening of the Scottish parliament on The Mound. A passionate supporter of the arts in Scotland, Wellington is soon to be appointed to Scotland's Cultural Commission.

Suzanne Vega 1959- Born in Santa Monica, California, Vega moved to New York as a girl where she became involved with the folk scene while studying for a literature degree. Her hit single Luka, released in 1987, paved the way for folk-pop crossover artists such as Tracey Chapman and Sinead O'Connor.

Norma Waterson 1939- Began performing with her brother and sister in the mid-1960s as The Watersons and found solo stardom 30 years later when a top American producer spotted her at a gig in Los Angeles. Her first solo album featured her husband and daughter, more of whom below ...

Eliza Carthy 1975- A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Carthy is the daughter of Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy. Despite her pedigree she has experimented with drum'n'bass and prefers trendy trainers to hippie sandals. Has been twice nominated for a Mercury.

Kate Rusby 1973- Former child prodigy Rusby was a lead singer in her parents' ceilidh band by the age of 12. Although an established solo artist Rusby has collaborated with female folk ensemble The Floozies and her album with Kathryn Roberts won the 1995 folk/roots album of the year.

Kirsty MacColl 1969-2000 The daughter of famous folk singer/ songwriter Ewan MacColl, Kirsty MacColl pursued a more diverse musical career, enjoying chart success with a variety of styles, including pop and a novelty rock 'n' roll single. One of her greatest hits was a duet with Shane MacGowan of The Pogues, Fairytale Of New York in 1987 - MacGowan had previously recorded a cover of MacColl's father's song, Dirty Old Town. Died when she was struck by a speedboat while scuba-diving in Mexico.

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