Nick Cave’s son Arthur took LSD before plunging from cliff, inquest hears
Musician Nick Cave’s teenage son took LSD before he fell off a cliff in Brighton, an inquest has heard.
Arthur Cave, 15, suffered a “catastrophic” head injury after plunging from a cliff in Brighton, East Sussex, on July 14.
The tragic teenager was rushed to Royal Sussex County Hospital after being discovered at around 6pm on July 14 but died a short time later.
Nick Cave and his wife Susie Bick attended an inquest into their son’s death at Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton, England on Tuesday, but left the room briefly when details of Arthur’s injuries were read out.
During evidence given by pathologist Dr Simi George, Ms Hamilton-Deeley asked: “The history you had was that LSD was used?”
The inquest heard testimony from a friend of Arthur’s who described how the pair had taken the drug together near Rottingdean windmill on the day he died.
Speaking at the time of their son’s death, Nick Cave and his wife paid tribute to their ‘beautiful, happy loving boy’.
The student had taken the hallucinogenic drug LSD with a friend, who can not be named for legal reasons, before the fall at the Ovingdean Gap bypass. “They debated for a few minutes about whether to take the tablets then both took them together”.
Nick, an Australian musician and songwriter, is best known as the frontman of alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Police have said his death was not suspicious.
The boy said he and Arthur shared three tablets and that they were initially in “good spirits and happy”. “He couldn’t tell what was real and what was not real”.
Arthur was later found at the bottom of the cliff by passers-by who attempted to resuscitate him.
“He thought he could see Arthur covered in vomit but wasn’t sure if it was real”.
“He loved his friends and family, idolised his twin brother Earl and was never far from his side”.