Deckhand breaks 25-year silence: I was driving the speedboat that killed Kirsty MacColl
Jose Cen Yam tells The Mail on Sunday he was at the helm when the Fairytale of New York singer was struck near Cozumel; her family continues to press claims of a cover-up involving a Mexican billionaire.
A deckhand who operated the motorboat involved in Kirsty MacColl’s death 25 years ago says he was at the helm when the British singer was killed during a diving trip off Cozumel, Mexico.
Jose Cen Yam, now a handyman on the island, spoke to The Mail on Sunday after years of silence, insisting that he drove the boat that struck MacColl in December 2000 and that there was no pressure from the singer’s family to implicate anyone else. Cen Yam’s account comes amid renewed questions raised by Kirsty MacColl’s former husband, Steve Lillywhite, who alleges a conspiracy to shield the vessel’s owner, Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, a Mexican billionaire who owned the boat.
MacColl, 41 at the time, died after being struck by one of the Percalito’s propellers as she and her sons were finishing a scuba session off the resort island. The investigation at the time centered on the 31-foot motorboat, which was registered in Guernsey and owned by Gonzalez Nova. Cen Yam says he was driving the boat when the collision occurred and disputes the notion that the billionaire himself was at the controls or that the incident involved any cover-up.
According to Cen Yam, the boat was traveling at a slow pace and he did not see anyone in the water when the ship passed near the divers. He says he heard a peculiar whirring sound and realized, only afterward, that something had gone wrong. He asserts that he slowed, went to the back of the vessel, and saw MacColl’s body in the water. He adds that he did not abandon her and stayed at the scene while another deckhand contacted authorities, holding the diver’s breathing tube to keep the current from pulling her away until help arrived. Cen Yam says he does not feel shame over the incident and maintains that it was an accident.
The tragedy unfolded off Cozumel on December 18, 2000, as MacColl enjoyed a family holiday with her two sons, Louis and Jamie, after a prior flurry of television and stage work. The group had just finished a diving trip with instructor Ivan Diaz in a zone within Cozumel’s protected water area. The park rules restricted vessel movement and diving in certain zones, and questions about where the collision occurred and whether the divers were within the correct limits lingered for years.
The boat involved, The Percalito, was a 31-foot vessel valued at about £127,000, owned by Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, a prominent Mexican businessman who ran a major supermarket chain. Police records from the time show Gonzalez Nova as the boat’s captain, leading to public assumptions that he was at the helm. Cen Yam’s account challenges that narrative, insisting he was the one steering and that Gonzalez Nova did not drive the boat that day.
The consequences of the crash extended beyond the immediate tragedy. MacColl’s death stunned fans and prompted a period of intense scrutiny around the Mexican legal process as it related to foreign visitors and significant corporate interests. In the wake of the incident, Gonzalez Nova faced questions about accountability, but Cen Yam’s statements years later reopen old debates about who bore responsibility and how justice was pursued.
In the aftermath, Cen Yam was prosecuted for culpable homicide in 2003 and received a sentence of two years and ten months, though he ultimately paid a fine equivalent to roughly £60 (about $90 at the time) to avoid serving the term in prison. Gonzalez Nova died in 2009, leaving many of the questions unresolved, particularly regarding whether he was directly responsible for the crash or played a role in shielding himself and others from liability.
Kirsty MacColl’s family, led by her mother Jean Newlove, campaigned for years under the banner Justice For Kirsty, arguing the Mexican judicial process lacked transparency and accountability. The campaign, which drew on the singer’s global fan base and the notoriety of the case, formally disbanded in 2009. Newlove died in 2017 at age 94, leaving her family to continue grappling with the unresolved questions that have followed MacColl’s death for more than two decades.
Steve Lillywhite, MacColl’s former husband, has voiced renewed skepticism about Cen Yam’s account, arguing that there remains a perception among many that the real driver’s identity was not the deckhand but a far wealthier individual. The new interview with Cen Yam adds another layer to a complicated, long-running narrative about truth, accountability, and the influence of money on the pursuit of justice. The family’s pursuit of clarity and a possible judicial review has not produced a definitive resolution to the tragedy, and the case remains a touchstone for discussions about how justice is pursued in high-profile international incidents.
The current narrative is thus a blend of fresh testimony and enduring questions: Who was really at the helm? Was the boat ever within the correct zone for the divers? How fast was it moving at the moment of impact? And did wealth and influence play a role in shaping the handling of the case? For Kirsty MacColl’s family, the answers they seek have remained elusive for a quarter-century, and Cen Yam’s statements are unlikely to settle the debate so long as the more powerful figures associated with the incident remain beyond the reach of a judicial system they feel has failed them.