12 Years After the Death of Kirsty MacColl and Still No Justice

This is the time of year when the Pogues “Fairytale of New York” gets pulled out for the 25th year.  I can’t help thinking about the fate Kirsty MacColl, the female singer on that song.

Kirsty was married to producer Steve Lillywhite, which is how she came to appear on the song (see the story of “Fairytale of New York.”)  She and Steve later divorced and she restarted her life with a new partner named James Knight.

In December 200, Kirsty, James and Kirsty’s boys went to Cozumel for a holiday.  Kirsty loved to scuba dive and snorkel and wanted to show her sons how it was done.

On December 18, she and the boys were diving in an area where watercraft were strictly prohibited.  But just as they were surfacing from a deep dive, a speedboat tore through the area–right on top of Kirsty and her son, Jamie.

Kirsty was able to push Jamie out of the way, but as she did, the boat hit her, killing her instantly.

The boat was owned by Guillermo Gonzalize Nova, a Mexican millionaire who made all kinds of money from a chain of supermarkets.  Although he wasn’t at the helm at the time of the accident, he and his family were on board.

Driving the boat was (apparently) an employee named Jose Cen Yam.  There are, however, a number of eye witnesses that dispute that.  Witnesses also say the boat was going a lot faster than what had been claimed.  It was certainly moving faster than the 1 knot that Yam said it was.

Yam was arrested and found guilty of something known under Mexican law as “culpable homicide.”  His sentence was 2 years, 10 months.  However, the law also stated that he could avoid jail time by simply paying a fine.  That fine was about $90 USD.  Yes, NINETY dollars.

He was also ordered to pay some kind of restitution to Kirsty’s family, but because that amount was based on Yam’s annual salary, the total came to just over $2,100.  Meanwhile, ther were whispers that Yam got a big payoff from someone to take the fall.

Although 12 years have gone by, justice still hasn’t been done.  Visit the Justice for Kristy campaign for more info.