Cave ‘took LSD before fall’

Herald Sun

LSD ... An inquest has heard that Arthur Cave, 15, had taken LSD before he fell off a cliff. Picture: Supplied

The teenage son of Australian rocker Nick Cave fell 20m to his death off a cliff in southern England after taking the hallucinogenic drug LSD, an inquest has heard.

Arthur Cave, 15, suffered a fatal brain injury after plunging from a cliff onto the underpass of Ovingdean Gap in Brighton, East Sussex, on July 14.

The student was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital but died that evening.

Nick Cave, 58 and his model wife Susie Bick attended the Brighton inquest but left the room when graphic forensic evidence was presented.

The inquest, held at Woodvale Crematorium, heard the 15-year-old and a friend shared three tabs of LSD on the afternoon of his death after reading about side effects on the internet.

The pair was walking home when the hallucinogenic effect kicked in and the pair was separated with Cave later seen walking in a zig zag motion, holding his trousers up, across a grassy verge toward the white cliffs.

In a summary of the statement by the unidentified boy who took the Class A drug with the youth, Detective Constable Vicky Loft told the court: “Arthur was hesitant but said if they were worrying about things it would have an effect on the trip and make it a more negative experience.

“They decided to take one together at the same time. They took a tablet each, placed it on their tongue and waited for the effects to start.”

The boy said he and Arthur took three tablets between them and they were initially in “good spirits and happy”.

The friend said he then started having “vivid hallucinations”, including seeing patches of oil on the grass and shapes and colours in the sky.

Dc Loft said: “(The boy) became paranoid and felt like people were staring at him in cars. He couldn’t determine what was real and what was not real. He thought he could see Arthur covered in vomit but wasn’t tell sure if it was real.”

Witnesses said he climbed a fence and was starring out to sea before he fell the 20m. Some motorists jumped out of their cars in traffic as he staggered toward the fence in what some suspected was caused by alcohol or drugs, before he toppled over.

Below, some members of the public tried to resuscitate him before paramedics arrived at 5.55pm, delayed by 20 minutes by a locked gate on the promenade, but he had suffered multiple injuries including skull fractures from the fall and was pronounced dead in hospital about an hour later.

The inquest heard he may also have smoked cannabis sometime before his death. Hours before he died he also sent a selfie image to friends of himself smiling close to the spot where he died.

One witness Veronica Langford said she was stuck in slow moving traffic with her 11-year-old daughter when she saw the youth.

“Because it was so slow I had time to observe what was going on around me. As we approached the top of the hill I noticed a young man walking - staggering and zig-zagging on the grass,” she said.

“I was concerned and my initial reaction was that he as under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He slumped down into the grass and I couldn’t see him anymore. I thought to myself, ‘I need to get to him.’

“I said to my daughter, ‘look sweetheart, we need to go and do our Good Samaritan bit.’

“My daughter saw him get up and when I looked in my rear view mirror he had come down the bank and over the fence. I had a real sinking feeling at this point.”

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley recorded a verdict of accidental death.

She said: “In his own family’s words ... ‘He was a bright, shiny, funny, complex boy and we loved him deeply’.”

Cave, who clutched a tissue during the inquest, hugged his wife after the hearing.

Victorian-born singer, songwriter and screenwriter Cave, 58, nicknamed rock’s Prince of Darkness because of his dark songs is best known as lead singer of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds who scored a top 10 hit (Where the Wild Roses Grow) with a duet with Kylie Minogue in 1996.

He made no comment as he left court.