Peaches Geldof Died of Heroin Overdose, Coroner Rules

Husband Thomas Cohen believes mother of two began using drug again in February 2014 after two and a half years attempting to get clean

By Rebecca Macatee Jul 23, 2014 2:09 PMTags
Peaches Geldof Fred Duval/Getty Images

Peaches Geldof died of a heroin overdose, a coroner has ruled. 

Per the BBC, the inquest heard that the 25-year-old mother of two had been a heroin addict and took the drug substitute methadone for two and a half years prior to her April 7, 2014 death. According to her husband Thomas Cohen, Peaches started using heroin again in February 2014, two months before her tragic passing.

The inquest revealed that 6.9 grams of "importation quality" heroin, with a purity of 61 percent "far exceeding" the 26 percent purity usually found at street level, was found in a black bag inside a cupboard at Peaches and Thomas' home. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fotheringham, who led the investigation, said the bag "also contained 34 medical syringes, some were with needles and some without, some were sealed in original packaging and some contained traces of a brown coloured residue."

Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for Universal Pictures

"There were also 45 packaged and sealed syringes, alcohol wipes and cotton buds," he added.

Per the BBC, Thomas told the hearing he had witnessed his wife flushing drugs down the toilet, but he was not aware of any other drugs in the couple's home until they were found by police. Peaches' widower asserted that she had taken weekly drug tests since seeking treatment for her addiction two years ago, but he now believes she had been lying about having clean test results. 

Peaches' mother, Paula Yates, died of a heroin overdose in 2000 at age 41, when her daughter was just 11 years old. Coroner Roger Hatch said, "It's said that the death of Peaches Geldof-Cohen is history repeating itself but this not entirely so.

Instagram

"By November last year she had ceased to take heroin as a result of the considerable treatment and counselling that she had received.

"This was a significant achievement for her but for reasons we will never know prior to her death she returned to taking heroin." 

Although no arrests have been made at this time, a police investigation into the supply of the drug is ongoing.