Jamal Edwards died by taking recreational drugs, his mother has claimed, after the inquest into the SB.TV music entrepreneur’s death opened.
He suffered a cardiac arrest at home in Acton, west London on 20 February and died while his mother, Brenda, held his hand as revealed to Loose Women.
Loose Women panellist Brenda has today (June 7) claimed in a message posted on social media that her 31-year-old son’s death was the result of him taking recreational drugs.
She said: “Since I last spoke I have sadly learned that the cause of Jamal’s devastating passing was due to a cardiac arrhythmia caused by having taken recreational drugs and I wanted to address this myself to everyone who loved, admired and respected my son.”
Rest In Peace my beautiful baby 💙💙💙 pic.twitter.com/SVxd6hJ5iN
— Brenda Edwards (@brenda_edwards) June 7, 2022
Brenda went on to warn that “these types of substances are unpredictable” and that it takes just “one bad reaction to destroy lives”.
“Since finding out the news I’ve been in a state of shock,” she said, adding: “It’s so important that we drive more conversation about the unpredictability of recreational drugs.
“Jamal is proof that this can happen to anyone. His passing has shown that one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences.”
Coroner Catherine Wood said at the opening of the inquest this week that Jamal “came home late one evening after work and he became increasingly agitated and suffered a cardiac arrest, and was deteriorating despite treatment” [via Sky News].
She said that after a post-mortem examination she has “reason to suspect the death is an unnatural death”.
Brenda was not in court for the inquest nor were any other family members. The inquest is expected to resume in about eight weeks’ time.
Jamal, who was an author, broadcaster and DJ, helped launch the careers of Stormzy, Skepta, Dave and Ed Sheeran via his youth broadcasting and production film channel SB.TV.
He founded the channel as a teenager to share clips that he’d recorded of his friends performing on the estate where he lived in Acton.
The entrepreneur is to be honoured with this year’s Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the music industry later this year.