‘Our beautiful boy’: Nick Cave’s son took LSD before fatal cliff plunge

The teenage son of singer Nick Cave had taken LSD before he fell to his death from a cliff, an inquest heard yesterday.

Nick's 15-year-old son Arthur fell from the top of the Ovingdean Gap in Sussex, England on the evening of July 15, 2015, landing on a coastal path below. 

He was found with life-threatening injuries and passed away in hospital later that night.

The inquest heard a statement from a male friend of Arthur's, who said the pair had taken the hallucinogen together shortly before his fall, according to The Guardian.

Although the boy, who remained unnamed for legal reasons, said he had researched how long the effect of the drug might last, he had not seen much information about the potential negative effects.

Shortly after taking the drug, the pair went their "separate ways," with the boy saying he had suffered "vivid hallucinations" and "paranoia."

Witnesses described seeing Arthur "staggering" by himself on a grassy area near the edge of the cliff. 

Soon afterwards, he was spotted by a passing jogger at the bottom of the cliff. Arthur is said to have suffered "multiple head injuries" when he fell and the inquest heard that it was unlikely he would have survived even if medical help had arrived sooner.

"In my opinion, even if there was a trauma team at the bottom of that cliff it would have been very unlikely that he would have survived," Dr Simi George told the court.

Arthur was a twin brother to Earle, and was one of Nick's two sons with his wife Susie Bick. The Bad Seeds singer also has two other sons from previous relationships, Luke and Jethro.

Nick and Susie attended the inquest, though they left briefly during a particular graphic description of their son's injuries, the Associated Press reports. The pair were later seen hugging outside the court.

In a family statement issued after yesterday's inquest, the Caves described their son as "a wonderfully unruly, creative and free-spirited young man with an infectious, happy, funny daredevil nature.

"He loved his friends and family, idolised his twin brother Earl and was never far from his side."