Keith Flint: Prodigy frontman ‘had cocaine in his system’ when he died

A coroner has reached an open verdict on the death of Keith Flint, after concluding there is not sufficient evidence that the former Prodigy frontman intended to kill himself.

Although a post-mortem found the cause of death to be hanging, a toxicology report revealed that Flint had “unspecified amounts of cocaine, alcohol and codeine in his system when he died”, the BBC reports.

The lifeless body of the 49-year-old was discovered at his home in the Essex village of North End on 4 March.

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Police subsequently confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances to his death, NME reports.

Delivering her verdict at a brief inquest hearing in Chelmsford this week, the senior coroner for Essex, Caroline Beasley-Murray, said: “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.”

She added that we will “never quite know what was going on in his mind on that date”.

The Guardian reports that she also found insufficient evidence to conclude Flint’s death was an accident, where he may have been “larking around and it all went horribly wrong”.

His death triggered a flood of eulogies from fellow artists and music publications.

On stage, “Flint was ‘danger illustrated’ - a maniacal, uninhibited performer, who introduced an element of danger to The Prodigy’s live shows”, says the BBC.

But “tributes to the star revealed his softer side”, the broadcaster adds.

“It was so disarming to discover this incredibly gentle, intelligent, charming man,” said DJ Mary Anne Hobbs on her BBC Radio 6 music show.

One of the most widely shared stories of Flint’s kindness and generosity came from pop star James Blunt.

“At the Q Awards years ago, when Noel Gallagher was saying he was leaving Ibiza because I’d moved there, and Damon Albarn refused to be in the same picture as me... Keith Flint came over, gave me a hug, and said how thrilled he was for my success,” Blunt wrote on Twitter.

“Keith, I only met you once, but I shed a tear at the news of your death. In our business, there are no prizes for being kind, but if there was, that Grammy would be yours.”

It has emerged that Flint took part in a local 5k park run the weekend before his death. The organisers of the weekly event said the star was one of their newer runners, adding: “We wished he could have been part of our park run community for longer than he was.”

“Instantly recognisable for his fluorescent spiked hair and incendiary performances”, Flint sang lead vocals on The Prodigy’s No.1 singles Breathe and Firestarter, says the BBC.

In a statement released following his death, fellow Prodigy members Liam Howlett and Maxim Reality said: “It is with deepest shock and sadness that we can confirm the death of our brother and best friend Keith Flint.

“A true pioneer, innovator and legend. He will be forever missed. We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.”

Joining in the tributes, broadcaster Jo Whiley tweeted: “Oh this is sad news. The death of Keith Flint. Whenever our paths crossed he was an absolute sweetheart. Really lovely. Incredible iconic frontman with a soft centre. #RIPKeithFlint.”

Flint was born in east London before moving to the Essex town of Braintree as a child. There he met Howlett, with whom he would co-found The Prodigy.

Although Flint started out as a backing dancer for the group, he quickly became “the face of the rave band and took centre stage on their best-known hit Firestarter, the single which launched him as an icon”, says The Sun.

He was a key figure of the British music scene in the late 1990s and early 2000s, “thanks to his energetic live performances and his distinctive look of wild hair and lots of tattoos”, adds the Daily Mirror.

In recent years, Flint retired to the countryside and ran a genteel country pub in Essex until 2017.

He and his wife, Japanese DJ Mayumi Kai, restored a mock-Tudor listed home, where he embraced his new, sober life. “It‘s very boring and very un-rock’n’roll to talk about it, but I do love my house,” he told The Times in 2009.