A coroner has said that there is not enough evidence to rule former Prodigy frontman Keith Flint’s death as a suicide.
Flint was found dead at his home in March at the age of 49, with an inquest taking place on Wednesday in Chelmsford.
At this inquest, Essex Senior Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray recorded an open conclusion, adding that “we will never quite know what was going on in [Flint’s] mind on that date”.
She explained: “I’ve considered suicide. To record that, I would have to have found that, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Flint formed the idea and took a deliberate action knowing it would result in his death.
“Having regard to all the circumstances I don’t find that there’s enough evidence for that.”
At the time of his death, Flint was found to have unspecified amounts of cocaine, alcohol and codeine in his system.
Beasley-Murray also found insufficient evidence to conclude his death was an accident, noting he may have been “larking around and it all went horribly wrong”.
She added: “He clearly was extremely popular, he was much-loved by so many fans. It’s been very touching to see that, and of course I’m aware of the funeral service that was held in Bocking.”
Flint’s friends and family were made aware of the inquest, but ultimately decided not to attend.
Shortly after Flint’s death, police confirmed that they were not treating it as suspicious.
He was laid to rest weeks later, with Flint’s bandmates encouraging fans to travel to Braintree to line the streets for his funeral procession.
Useful websites and helplines:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill.)
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email: help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0300 5000 927 (open Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on www.rethink.org.
