Peaches Geldof inquest to begin

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/23/peaches-geldof-inquest-to-begin

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The full inquest into the death of Peaches Geldof, who was found slumped dead on a bed at home after taking heroin, will commence on Wednesday.

At its opening in May the inquest heard that the 25-year-old's husband found her in a spare room at the home they shared in Wrotham, Kent, on 7 April after she failed to answer the phone.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fotheringham told the hearing in Gravesend that recent heroin use "was likely to have played a role" in her death. He described the unsuccessful efforts her husband, musician Tom Cohen, made to contact his wife before he found her body.

Cohen had gone to his parents' home in south-east London with the couple's two sons, Astala, two, and Phaedra, one – a normal arrangement so that he and TV presenter and columnist Geldof could concentrate on their work, Fotheringham said.

Geldof remained at home in Wrotham and in contact with friends and family, appearing to be her normal self, the inquest heard.

Fotheringham said: "It is believed that Peaches spent Saturday afternoon [5 April], into the evening, and Sunday morning at her home address alone.

"Throughout this period she maintained telephone contact with family and friends, including contact with Thomas's mother to arrange a family activity, but this was cancelled.

"Peaches maintained contact with family and friends throughout Sunday and at 5pm Thomas's father Keith Cohen took the youngest child … back to Wrotham and spent half an hour with Peaches before leaving the child with her."

Fotheringham said the last contact with Ms Geldof was believed to have been at 7.45pm on the Sunday when she had a telephone conversation with a friend and that no one who had spoken to her over the weekend had believed there was any cause for concern.

Cohen travelled to the family home in Kent with his mother and Astala the following day, arriving at around 1.30pm, after failing to get hold of his wife.

"Thomas entered the property and located Peaches in the spare bedroom," Fotheringham said. It was apparent that she was dead.

Cohen called out to his mother, Phaedra was found in the property and the emergency services were called.

A postmortem examination carried out by Dr Peter Jerreat at Darent Valley Hospital in dartford was inconclusive but further tests confirmed the recent taking of heroin, Fotheringham said.

Peaches Geldof's funeral took place took place at St Mary Magdalene and St Lawrence Church in Davington, near Faversham, where she had married Cohen in 2012. It was also where her mother, Paula Yates, married Bob Geldof in 1986 and where Yates's funeral service was held after her own overdose death.

The former Boomtown Rats singer has since spoken of the "intolerable" pain he feels following his daughter's death. In an interview with ITV's Lorraine Kelly, he said he would sometimes "buckle" when he thought of his loss out of the blue and that it was "still very raw".