Arthur Cave, Nick Cave’s Son, Took LSD Before Fatal Fall Off Cliff

Nick Cave‘s son Arthur Cave had recently taken LSD when he fell from a cliff to his death last month at the age of 15.

Arthur Cave On LSD

Detective Constable Vicky Loft revealed earlier this week that both Arthur and an unnamed friend had tried LSD for the first time on the day of the former’s death, reported The Guardian. “They debated for a few minutes about whether to take the tablets then both took them together,” Loft said, adding that the other boy said that they were in “good spirits and happy” before having “vivid hallucinations.”

“[The boy] became paranoid and felt like people were staring at him in cars,” Loft added. “He couldn’t tell what was real and what was not real.”

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, who did not find any trace of LSD in Arthur’s body, accepts his friend’s version of events. “[The LSD] was taken by lads who were inquiring and experimenting and it’s what kids do all the time,” Hamilton-Deeley said. “And most of the time … they get away with it, except on sad occasions like this.”

Arthur died of multiple head injuries upon falling from the top of the cliff between Ovingdean and Rottingdean and into the underpass of Ovingdean Gap in Brighton, England July 14. He was pronounced dead at the Royal Sussex County hospital that evening.

“In Arthur’s case, sadly, and I think mercifully, it was clear that he was not aware of what was going on,” said Royal Sussex doctor Paul Ransom said. “The point of impact was the point of death.“