Musician Nick Cave’s teenage son took LSD before he fell off a cliff in Brighton, an inquest has heard.
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Arthur Cave, 15, suffered a “catastrophic” head injury and two broken legs after plunging 60 feet near Brighton, East Sussex, on July 14.
As The Guardian reports, the inquest was held at Woodvale crematorium in Brighton and heard reports that the young man had been seen alone and “staggering” before the fall.
Summing up, the coroner, Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, accepted that the boys had taken LSD, although no trace of the drug was found in Arthur’s body.
Following the news of the tragedy in July, Nick – who was born in Australia – and his wife Susie paid tribute to their “beautiful, happy” son.
Following Arthur’s death, Cave and his wife released a short statement through Sussex Police saying: “He was our attractive, happy, loving boy”.
Cave, 58, is an Australian musician and songwriter, best known as lead singer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, an alternative rock group formed in Melbourne in 1983. Evidence established the teenager died of multiple brain injuries.
An inquest into his death at Brighton Coroners Court heard the 15-year-old had taken the hallucinogenic drug shortly before his death. “They took a tablet each, placed it on their tongue and waited for the effects to start”. Sussex Police have previously said his death was not suspicious.
A spokeswoman for The Times told The Huffington Post United Kingdom at the time: “We published a story about Nick Cave and his son in the paper today, which we later decided was inappropriate”.
Members of the public walking at the beauty spot who found him at about 6pm on Tuesday, July 14 attempted to administer first aid.
“Loft said: “[The boy] became paranoid and felt like people were staring at him in cars.
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Apart from his parents, Arthur left behind his twin brother Earl.
