The son of Boohoo’s chief executive died after accidentally taking a morphine overdose, an inquest heard today.
Louis Lyttle was found dead in his bed at his family home in Kent at about 5am on April 20 this year - just 10 days before his 21st birthday.
Louis recently graduated from university and was working in digital marketing at the fashion company at the time of his death, an inquest at Maidstone City Hall heard.
His father, John Lyttle, has been the boss of Boohoo since March 2019.
A post-mortem examination showed Mr Lyttle had levels of morphine in his bloodstream consistent with overdose in even a long-term user, as well as cocaine, but the court heard he had no history of drug abuse.
Coroner Alan Blunsdon ruled that Mr Lyttle had “naively” taken a lethal dose of morphine.
Recording a conclusion of death by misadventure, Mr Blunsdon said: “(The victim) had a promising career in digital marketing, he was in good health, a member of a loving and supportive family and was standing on the threshold of potentially a very successful future, which he was keen to embrace.
“He was working long hours with a view to promotion, he was an outgoing and promising person who was well regarded by others.
“What is abundantly clear is that there is no evidence to support a conclusion of Louis intending to cause harm to himself or take his own life."
A police investigation was unable to find the source of the drugs.
“This death was in all probability not that of a risk-taker experimenting with substances, nor that of an addict regularly using opioids," Mr Blunsdon added.
“More probably it was the death of a naive young man who used a high level of substance with catastrophic results.”
Mr Lyttle, who was previously the chief operating officer at budget high street chain Primark for 10 years, attended the hearing via videolink.
According to his son's LinkedIn profile, Louis went to school at the King's School in Canterbury and went on to study business management at Cardiff University.
