![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/50000/images/_53988_Yates150.jpg)
The coroner said Hutchence took his own life because of depression, caused partly by his ongoing custody battle with Sir Bob Geldof.
Hutchence was engaged to Geldof's former wife, Paula Yates.
The singer was found dead in Sydney's Ritz-Carlton Hotel last November. He was hanging by a belt from his bedroom door.
The New South Wales Coroner, Derek Hand, said police and forensic inquiries had revealed that Michael Hutchence had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine, as well as the anti-depressant drug Prozac on the night that he died.
His fiancée, Paula Yates, had been involved in a custody battle with Sir Bob Geldof for the right to move their children to Australia to be with Hutchence.
Abusive phone calls
In his final few hours, the coroner said Hutchence made two desperate phone calls to Sir Bob which were "hectoring and abusive" in nature.
"Considering the evidence, I am satisfied the deceased was in a severely depressed state on the day that he died", Mr Hand said.
"This" he added, "was due to a number of factors, including his ongoing dispute with Sir Bob Geldof, and the effects of the substances that he had ingested. I am satisfied that he did take his own life", Mr Hand concluded.
![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/50000/images/_53988_hotel150.jpg)
After his death, rumours quickly surfaced that Hutchence had died during the course of a sex game that went wrong.
But the coroner said there was no evidence to support such speculation. He also said there was no other person involved in the death.
There will be no inquest.
![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/50000/images/_53988_geldof.jpg)
Just weeks ago, the rock star's ashes were split three ways following disagreements between his parents and Paula Yates over what to do with them.
His father, Kel, and brother, Rhett, spread a third of his remains over Sydney Harbour three weeks ago, on what would have been Hutchence's 38th birthday.
Funeral of Michael Hutchence held in Sydney
(27 Nov 97 | World)
INXS singer found dead
(22 Nov 97 | World)
Tragic end to a 20-year success story
(22 Nov 97 | World)
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