A new BBC documentary is set to claim that Mick Jagger was the subject of a 1969 assassination plot by Hells Angels. The programme, which goes out on Radio 4 today, says that the Rolling Stone was targeted by the motorcycle gang because of a dispute over security: Jagger, apparently, had vowed never to use Hells Angels as bouncers after eighteen year old fan Meredith Hunter died at their free gig at the Altamont Speedway in Northern California, a killing which the gang always denied involvement in.
Programme presenter Tom Mangold explains that gang members planned to kill Jagger whilst he was at his holiday home in Long Island, and tried to reach him by sea. Their boat was hit by a storm, however and all the would-be assassins were thrown overboard. All survived, but no further attempt was made on the singer's life. Mangold adds that the plot was revealed during an interview with former FBI officer Mark Young, but it's not clear if Jagger was ever made aware of it.