A City financier died in a mystery fall from the top floor of his Chelsea apartment block after binging on cocaine, an inquest has heard.
Christopher Coe, 40, battled with drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and a gambling habit which wrecked his marriage and affected his work at a Mayfair private equity firm, a coroner has heard.
He was found dead last June, after being seen falling from the top of the apartment block where he lived in Redcliffe Square, Chelsea.
Test revealed he had taken large quantities of cocaine before falling to his death.
Coroner Jean Harkin, sitting at Westminster coroner’s court, ruled out suicide and reached a conclusion of “misadventure”, after hearing about Mr Coe’s battles with addiction.
“I can find no evidence that Christopher Coe had ever intended to end his life in the past”, she said, adding that no suicide note was found at his home.
“It’s clear that Christopher lived a lifestyle where he was intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine and had various problems throughout his life.”
Mr Coe was the eldest son of renowned Australian financier David Coe, and followed in his father’s footsteps by entering the world of private equitybased in London.
He was raised and educated at private school in Sydney and had a passion for rugby, going on to play semi-professionally during his time at university while gaining a degree in philosophy and history and a masters in finance from Oxford University.
His father died in 2013 from a heart attack on a ski trip to Colorado, with stars including Hollywood actor Russell Crowe and cricketers Shane Warne, Michael Clarke and Steve Waugh attending his funeral.
Harley Street consultant psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley said he treated Mr Coe from 2015, when he was referred by his GP over concerns of cocaine and alcohol misuse.
“The problems persisted for a year, causing significant problems in his family and work lives”, said the coroner, reading from the consultant’s statement.
“He said his business partner and his wife had had enough.
“There was a pattern of social drinking where after four or five drinks he would start using cocaine, originally with the frequency of every few months and this increased to every week or two.”
She said Mr Coe would go on cocaine “binges” during after-work drinking sessions, and he sought help when his four-year marriage to wife Lisa ran into trouble thanks to his “erratic behaviour”.
He admitted starting taking drugs at university, and the intensity increased when he entered the world of investment banking “where cocaine use was prevalent”, the court heard.
Mr Coe spent three weeks in rehab in Byron Bay in a bid to kick the drug habit, but he relapsed after 90 days of sobriety, the inquest was told.
In October 2015, he received “successful” treatment for addiction at the Priory clinic, but he did not turn up to planned alcoholic anonymous meetings and at a check-up the following February Mr Coe said he had relapsed.
“His wife remained resentful about his past behaviour”, said the coroner, detailing visits to Sweden to see her and their young child.
“After a successful eight-day business trip to Nigeria, he planned to move over to Sweden, but after an evening having a few drinks with an investor, his wife was so upset she emailed his work.
“He said he planned to move back to Australia where he would be safe with his family.”
The court heard the consultant spoke to Mr Coe’s wife, and she made it clear their marriage could only be saved if he “reached recovery with all ofhis behavioural problems”.
The court also heard evidence of heavy gambling by Mr Coe, including regularly bets of up to £2,000 a day on horse racing, rugby, and football matches, and a loss of £40,000 on one day.
When he died, Mr Coe had a “significant” level of cocaine in his system, the court heard, more than five times the amount associated with “recreational use”.
The court heard his fall, on June 15 last year, was seen by a passerby and captured on a ring doorbell camera at a neighbouring property. The pathologist also found evidence that Mr Coe had put his hands out at the point of impact with the concrete floor.
Mr Coe’s brother Matthew attended the inquest, which was conducted online, via a link from Australia. The coroner noted that he was “on the other side ofthe world” and told Mr Coe that he could address the hearing but was was not allowed to give formal evidence.
“I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with suicide, but I don’t believe Chris was in that state”, he told the hearing.
“In my opinion I don’t think that was the reason. That is my view from talking to him in the days surrounding it.”
The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure, with cocaine use as a contributory factor.
