Family and friends mark death of newsreader's daughter

Celebrities from the world of broadcasting gathered today to remember the daughter of British newsreader Carol Barnes, who was killed in a skydiving accident.

Channel 4’s Jon Snow and ITV newscaster Nicholas Owen joined other family and friends of Clare Barnes at a memorial service in Brighton.

Clare, 24, whose father is Minister for Europe Denis MacShane, was killed when her parachute malfunctioned during a jump with her boyfriend near Melbourne, Australia, on March 14.

Mr Snow read a short bible reading at the service at the Grand Hotel, Brighton, where Mrs Barnes lives. She arrived today wearing a cream trouser suit.

During the service, led by Unitarian Church minister Jane Barton, friends were invited to give their own personal tribute before the congregation watched a video of Clare skydiving in Australia.

After the service, Mrs Barnes and Mr MacShane said in a joint statement: “It was a wonderful memorial to a beautiful, gutsy girl who died doing what she loved best.

“She left her family and friends far too early but her memory will never die.”

Ten days after Clare’s death, her boyfriend Chris McDoughall spoke of the moments before her death.

He said she was “happy beyond belief” during what was her 200th jump. The pair shared a mid-air kiss seconds before her parachute failed to open, sending her plummeting 14,000 feet to the ground.

Her emergency parachute became tangled and her main chute became wrapped around her body.

Mr McDoughall, who made a memorial jump over the point where Clare, who lived in Melbourne, died days after the accident, said: “There was a glint in her eye, she was happy beyond belief, she was exhilarated.

“She was fighting all the way down and she did everything right.

“Everything was going right for Clare. We had bought a house together and she was becoming a really good skydiver and was just about to get Australian residency.”

An inquiry is continuing into the accident. Clare’s parents flew to Australia to organise her funeral. Some of her ashes were scattered by Mr McDoughall during his memorial jump.