Peaches Geldof 'had been a heroin addict', inquest hears

Peaches Geldof: Bob Geldof speaks of loss for first time

4 July

Sir Bob Geldof has spoken about the loss of his daughter, Peaches Geldof, for the first time since she was found dead in her Kent home at the age of 25 in April.

The Live Aid star says his grief is "intolerable" but performing again is "cathartic".

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Speaking to ITV's Lorraine programme, Geldof said he is often hit by waves of sadness: "You could be talking to someone, you could be walking down the road, and suddenly out of the blue there's an awareness of her. And you know – I buckle.

"And I've got to be very careful because walking down the Kings Road there's paps [paparazzi] everywhere, so I have to duck off into a lane or something and blub for a while and then get on with it. I imagine that will be there for a long time."

The Daily Telegraph says Geldof's life has changed since Peaches died after taking heroin. He got engaged to his girlfriend of 20 years, Jeanne Marine and has returned to performing with the Boomtown Rats, describing singing as "cathartic".

But live shows have their pitfalls: Geldof says he has to be careful not to focus too much on the lyrics of one song, Diamond Smiles.

Written about the suicide of a society girl in the 1970s, it now reminds him of his daughter – and of her mother, Paula Yates, who died of an accidental drugs overdose in 2000.

Geldof hopes that the youth of Peaches's sons Phaedra and Astala, who were 23 and 11 months at her death, will prevent them from being too badly affected. He lost his own mother at the age of "six or seven" and has "no memory of her".

He said: "They are so small, the little chaps, that I'm not sure they'll have this craving to remember their Mum, and I think that is healthy. They are young enough ... to build emotional relationships away from the primary relationship with the mother.

"I know that sounds very cold and empirical but obviously I have had to think about the rest of the family and Tom, their dad, and Keith and Sue, their grandparents, who are amazing people and doing fantastically with the guys."

Peaches Geldof: heroin 'likely' cause of death, inquest hears

1 May

HEROIN is "likely" to have played a role in Peaches Geldof's death, an inquest heard this afternoon.

The results of toxicology tests were announced today in Gravesend, Kent, after a post-mortem examination failed to establish the cause of her death.

"Recent use of heroin and the levels identified were likely to have played a role in her death," Det Ch Insp Paul Fotheringham said during a brief hearing, according to the BBC.

The Times reported this morning that the probable cause of the 25-year-old's death echoed that of her mother Paula Yates, who died from a heroin overdose in 2000 at her home in Notting Hill while alone with Geldof's sister Tiger Lily, then aged four.

However, no evidence of drugs paraphernalia was found in Geldof's house. Police and sniffer dogs searched the house, including contents of rubbish bags, but nothing related to drugs was discovered.

It is not known who supplied the young mother with the drugs, but the Times says there is speculation that items may have been removed before the property was searched by police.

The newspaper claims Geldof had become increasingly obsessed with the death of her mother, posting a photograph of herself and Yates on the internet just hours before she died.

Geldof had a long history of drug use, and there were reports that she had to be revived after an overdose in 2008. However, friends said that she had stopped using drugs before the birth of her children.

In her final interview, published after her death in the Sunday Times, Geldof spoke about how motherhood allowed her a new perspective on her own childhood.

"Now that I am a mum I can correct those awful parts of my childhood and it's a really healing process," she said. "Before, I was not at peace with myself about it because I was just traumatised."

She noted that there were "many parallels" between her and her mother. "I feel her living through me all the time because we are just so similar. Now I can understand everything," she said. "I think you have to experience hardships and pain yourself to fully understand people who have been through it."

Geldof's full inquest is likely to be adjourned until the end of July to ensure her father Bob Geldof and husband Thomas Cohen can attend.

Peaches Geldof: tragic history repeats itself for 25-year-old

8 April

FAMILY and friends have paid tribute to the 25-year-old writer and presenter Peaches Geldof, who was found dead at her home in Kent yesterday.

The news broke just 24 hours after she had posted an Instagram picture of herself as a toddler with her mother Paula Yates, who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2000.

Police are treating Geldof's death as "unexplained and sudden", reports the BBC. Officers were called to an address near the village of Wrotham "following a report of concern for the welfare of a woman" at 1.35pm on Monday. The circumstances surrounding her death are now the subject of an investigation.

"We are beyond pain," her father Bob Geldof said last night. He described his daughter, whose full name was Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof, as "the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us".

Peaches' husband, musician Thomas Cohen, said his "beloved wife" was adored by him and their two sons. "I shall bring them up with their mother in their hearts every day," he said. "We shall love her forever."

Singer Lily Allen said her thoughts were with Peaches' family. "I hope they get to grieve in peace," she said. "Peaches, rest in peace gorgeous girl."

"A horrific history has repeated itself for Peaches," says Bryony Gordon in the Daily Telegraph. "As a family, the Geldofs have endured tragedy after tragedy."

Peaches was just 11 when her mother died and 15 when she launched a media career with a column for Elle magazine. She went on to contribute to the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, as well as present TV shows including ITV2's OMG! with Peaches Geldof.

During her teenage years, it was "as if she was determined to find her mother again by reliving her life", says Hadley Freeman in The Guardian. She spoke in interviews about "experimenting with drugs" and seemed to live a life "trawling, hollow-eyed, from one party to the next".

But once she became pregnant with her first son, she began to speak about doing things differently. She married Cohen, and they had two sons, one-year-old Astala and 11-month-old Phaedra.

"It looked as though her story was going to have the kind of happy ending that had once seemed so elusive for her," says Freeman. "But some narratives prove harder to break."

In The Times, Katie Gibbons describes it as "the latest shock for a family who seem to have been touched by a curse".

Gibbons says Peaches' final post, the tribute to her mother, is "perhaps a reminder that the ghost of her family's tragic past was never far from sight".