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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katie Wilson

Loose Women's Brenda Edwards pays tribute to 'beautiful' son Jamal at inquest into his death

Brenda Edwards has paid tribute to her “beautiful and selfless” son Jamal at his inquest.

The Loose Women star said since the 31-year-old was young he had “made it his personal mission to open doors for others to walk through”.

Jamal grew up in Acton, west London and went on to found SBTV, a music platform which helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, Stormzy and Dave.

He was even awarded an MBE for services to music in 2014 at the age of just 24 and was an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust.

But in February this year Jamal collapsed and died at his west London home.

Today a coroner ruled his tragic death was as a result of a heart attack brought on by alcohol and cocaine.

Jamal on Loose Women with his mum Brenda (ITV)

In a statement read to West London Coroners Court, his heartbroken mum Brenda said: “Jamal was a beautiful and selfless person.

“Since growing up with his family in Acton he made it his personal mission to open doors for others to walk through.

“To help people through life, to love and to laugh. And most importantly, to just make people happy.”

She added: “Jamal helped so many, working tirelessly to give a platform to people.

"His charitable work stretched near and far, from working at homeless shelters to giving back to his roots in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

“We are so proud of everything Jamal achieved over the course of his 31 years and how he impacted others’ lives. We miss him so much.”

Jamal died aged just 31 in February (Getty Images)
He helped Ed Sheeran launch his music career (Getty Images)

The inquest heard that on the night Jamal died he returned to his home in Acton around 4am after playing a DJ set in north London.

He then sat up drinking with his friend Nick Hopper, who was living in an annex of the house at the time.

Mr Hopper said that after a while Jamal became erratic and paranoid and started throwing things around before collapsing.

Despite the best efforts of Mr Hopper and later his uncle, Rodney Artman, as well as paramedics, Jamal didn’t wake up and was declared dead at 10.36am on Sunday February 20.

Just before his death he had spoken about feeling “under a lot of pressure”, his friend said.

Jamal was awarded an MBE for services to music (JOHN STILLWELL/AFP via Getty Images)

Police treated the death as non-suspicious, but found three small snap bags with the remnants of white powder in Jamal’s pocket.

Toxicology tests found cocaine and alcohol in his system.

There was also MDMA in his urine but not blood, indicating he had taken the drug recently – but not on the night of his death.

Coroner Ivor Collett said: “Jamal had taken cocaine in sufficient quantity to cause an adverse reaction brought about by cocaine toxicity. This then caused cardiac arrhythmia which resulted in his death.”

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