City financier, 40, was high on cocaine before falling to his death from the top of £1.4million Chelsea flat, inquest hears

A City financier fell to his death from the roof of his £1.4 million Chelsea flat while high on cocaine, an inquest heard today.

Christopher Coe, 40, who was the father of a young baby, was seen falling around 25 feet from the roof of his luxury flat in the exclusive Redcliffe Square area of west London last summer.

The 40-year-old, who attended prestigious Sydney Grammar School (SGS) in his native Australia, had struggled with booze and cocaine addiction that were ‘prevalent’ in the finance industry, the hearing was told.

Westminster Coroner’s Court heard today that Coe, who had recently become a father with his wife and owned his own private equity company DCE Partners, had struggled with addiction since attending Oxford University.

Psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley said in a statement that Coe had told him his problems with cocaine began when he worked in investment banking in his 20s – an industry in which the drug was ‘prevalent’.

Christopher Coe (right, pictured with father David), died last summer after falling from the roof of his flat

‘Mr Coe was struggling with alcohol and cocaine misuse and dependence,’ the statement, read by Coroner Jean Harkin, said.

‘He said his business partner and his wife had had enough. He and his wife Lisa had a healthy, six-month-old son.

‘Problems with alcohol had become problematic whilst at university.

‘He said [whilst] investment banking in his 20s that cocaine was prevalent.

‘His father worked in finance and was successful up until the financial crisis.’

Dr Hopley explained that Coe had been in and out of rehab facilities, including The Priory in the UK and another in Byron Bay, Australia, and also had a gambling problem which, at its worst, saw him lose up to £40,000 a day.

A toxicology report confirmed large amounts of both cocaine and alcohol in his body at the time of his death.

Figures recorded he had more than double the amount of cocaine in his blood that was considered to be ‘recreational’.

The inquest heard an emergency call was made after a passer-by saw him fall from the roof of his flat in Redcliffe Square, an upmarket area in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, before hearing a ‘thud’.

He sustained fatal injuries to his head and neck after falling from a height of around eight metres, and his wrists were both also found to have been broken – suggesting he attempted to break his fall.

Paramedics arrived within minutes, but were unable to resuscitate him.

Met Police Detective Sergeant Martin Bolt, who investigated Mr Coe’s death, told the inquest: ‘It was a fall from a height of about seven or eight metres.

‘Someone called an ambulance after hearing a thud.

‘The way he has fallen was captured on someone’s Ring doorbell.

‘There are no suspicious circumstances.’

Mr Coe, 40, sustained fatal injuries to his head and neck after falling from a height of around eight metres

Mrs Harkin – recording a conclusion of ‘misadventure’- said there was no evidence put before her that Coe had intended to take his own life.

Asking his brother Matthew Coe, who attended the inquest via videolink from overseas, for his take on whether his brother had intended to take his own life, he replied: ‘I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with suicide, but I don’t believe that Chris was in that state.

‘That is just my view in talking to him in the days around it.’

Mrs Harkin concluded: ‘I can find no evidence that Christopher David Coe had ever tried to end his life in the past.

‘There were no notes of intent. It’s clear that Chris lived a lifestyle where he would be intoxicated on alcohol and cocaine and had various problems throughout his life.

‘The witness said that he fell from the building. The pathologist says that he put out his hands…

‘None of that gives me the evidence I need to, even on the balance of probabilities, be sure that he intended to kill himself.

‘I am therefore considering a conclusion of misadventure.

‘To Matthew: please accept my sincerest condolences for the loss of your brother.’

Mr Coe had worked with private equity firms in both Australia and the UK, having gained arts and commerce degrees from Sydney University and an MBA from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

SGS boasts former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and a long list of celebrated cricket and rugby players amongst its alumni.

Coe’s father, David ‘Coey’ Coe, died of a heart attack aged 58 during a ski trip to Colorado in 2013.

The flamboyant businessman’s Sydney funeral later that same year was attended by Australian film, rock and sports stars including cricket legend Shane Warne and Hollywood actor Russell Crowe.