Coroner: Pop Idol star inhaled an anaesthetic
Former Pop Idol star Darius Campbell Danesh died from “inhalation of chloroethane”, the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed.
The Scots singer and actor was found dead in his US apartment, in Rochester, Minnesota, last month, aged 41.
Autopsy documents have listed “toxic effects of chloroethane” as well as “suffocation” as having contributed to his death.
The death was ruled an accident, by the medical examiner.
Chloroethane, commonly known as ethyl chloride, is a colourless, flammable gas or refrigerated liquid with a faintly sweet odor. It is as a strong alkylating agent used in topical anaesthetics, gasoline additives, plastics, dyes, pharmaceuticals and as an industrial refrigerant.
The singer’s family yesterday said: “The results of medical examinations have confirmed that Darius’s death was an accident caused by chloroethane, which is used to treat pain and that tragically lead to respiratory arrest. Darius was suffering from chronic neck pain following a car accident in 2010.”
The entertainer – who was known as Darius Danesh when he made his first bid for fame in ITV show Popstars in 2001 – also appeared on the first Pop Idol, won by Will Young.
Following his death, court files emerged in Florida linking Danesh to a plot to sell stakes in Rangers FC.
The Glasgow club is suing US businesswoman Kyle Fox over allegations that her company, KRF Capital, is using a document featuring the club’s logos to fraudulently attempt to raise £43.4 million from investors claiming it will buy shares in the club.
It is alleged that Fox set out a “circuitous route” in which the document was passed on by Danesh, his involvement in which Rangers has dismissed.