Heavy metal music star died in car crash after taking cocaine and cannabis

A FORMER member of extreme metal band Cradle of Filth died when he crashed his car after taking cocaine and cannabis, an inquest heard.

Jon Kennedy, 46, was driving home from work when his BMW left the road and hit a tree.

Mr Kennedy – also known as “Jonny Darko” by the band’s fans – was found dead in his car after the crash in Broughton, North Wales, in September last year.

He had worked 72 hours in a factory that week last September.

Colleagues said he was seen asleep prior to his shift ending and they struggled to wake him.

A post-mortem showed drugs in his system but the inquest heard it was not known if it affected his mental functioning.

He was also banned from driving at the time of the crash.

The coroner in Ruthin recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.

Married dad-of-four Mr Kennedy, of Buckley, was the bassist in Cradle of Filth from 1994 to 1995.

He played his first gig in front of 16,000 people in Portugal when he was a teenager.

His wife, Lynne, described her husband as an “amazing dad” to his three children, and stepchild.

She said he was a “proud Welshman” and her “soul mate”. She added that he will be “dearly missed”.