PAULA YATES died from an accidental heroin overdose, a coroner ruled this afternoon (November 8).
Coroner Dr Paul Knapman returned the verdict at Westminster Coroners Court and said Yates death was the result of the drug being taken by “an unsophisticated taker of heroin”.
0.3mg of morphine per litre of blood was found in her body, which the court heard was not enough to kill her had she been a heroin addict.
“The evidence does not point towards this being a deliberate act of suicide,” added Dr Knapman.
Yates, the lover of former INXS frontman, the late Michael Hutchence, and ex-wife of Live Aid founder and Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof, was found dead at her London home on September 17.
The court was also told that brown powder containing heroin had been found at the bedside of the one-time television presenter. A £5 note containing traces of cocaine was also discovered.
Yates and Hutchence’s daughter Tiger Lily remains a ward of court, at present in the care of Geldof.
As reported earlier on NME.COM, Hutchence’s mother Patricia Glassop has publicly questioned the suitability of Geldof as a guardian of Tiger Lily, suggesting her own daughter Tina should gain permanent custody.