Stainton was adamant in preventing the footage of Irwin's last moments, which depicts the moments after his fatal stingray attack, from being publicly released, stating that "it should be destroyed".[1] There were rumours that the footage had been leaked onto the internet, but all were revealed to be faked.
In the memorial service held on 20 September 2006 for Steve Irwin, Stainton made an appearance to pay tribute to his friend.[2]