Tributes paid to Colin Peck ahead of post mortem

It is understood Mr Peck was found dead at his ancestral home on Wednesday morning.

A PSNI spokeswoman confirmed today: “A post-mortem examination is to be carried out to determine the cause of death of a 56-year-old man in the Waterside area.

“He was found dead in a house in the Prehen area shortly before 9am today, Wednesday August 19.”

The sudden death of Mr Peck - who has been instrumental in opening up Prehen House to the public and organising a series of festivals and events in the grounds over recent years - has caused shockwaves across the north west and beyond.

Mr Peck was previously a world renowned journalist working internationally for a number of major media companies.

His brother and fellow journalist Rory Peck was killed while covering the turmoil during the Russian constitutional crisis back in 1993.

Tina Carr, director of the Rory Peck Trust, which was set up in his memory, was among the first to pay tribute to Colin via the website.

She said: “It is with genuine and very great sadness that we report the death of our friend and supporter Colin Peck.

“A journalist and lawyer, based at various times in Moscow, Paris and Cologne, Colin freelanced for most major networks as a producer, cameraman and print journalist, working extensively on conflicts in Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“He spent five years in Russia, working with his brother Rory Peck, before his death in 1993, and was interim Director of Afghan Aid.”

Colin’s friend Sonia Mikich said that Colin was “a keen journalist with a lawyer’s mind and an adventurer’s heart”.

“He went to the dark places because he wanted the world to understand what is going on. Fearless and cheerful. What a joy working with him, being around him,” she said.

Colin is survived by his daughter Virginia, his long-term partner Alison Hancock and their two young children, Rowell and Beatrix.