Son, 20, of £1.6m-a-year BooHoo CEO was found dead from ‘morphine overdose in family’s £1.9m home

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Son, 20, of £1.6m-a-year BooHoo CEO was found dead from a ‘morphine overdose in his bed at family’s £1.9m Sevenoaks home after he failed to get up for work at 5am’ during lockdown

  • Louis Lyttle, son of Boohoo chief John Lyttle, died at home Seal near Sevenoaks 
  • 20-year-old was pronounced dead at home after failing to get up for work
  • Coroner Alan Blunsdon gave the cause of death was given as morphine toxicity
  • John Lyttle joined Boohoo last year on £1.6m-a-year plus scope for £50m bonus
  • Fast fashion firm has been rocked over claims they used Leicester sweat-shops 

By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Louis Lyttle, the son of fast fashion chain boss John Lyttle, died at home near Sevenoaks in April after an overdose, an inquest has heard

The 20-year-old son of Boohoo’s chief executive was found dead in his bed after an overdose during lockdown, an inquest has heard.

Louis Lyttle, the son of fast fashion chain boss John Lyttle, was found dead at his £1.9million home near Sevenoaks.

After failing to get up for work at 5am on Monday, April 20, he was discovered unresponsive and not breathing.

Louis, who is understood to have worked for his father at Boohoo, was pronounced dead by paramedics at 6.20am.

An inquest into his death of Mr Lyttle opened at County Hall in Maidstone, Kent, with the cause of death given as morphine toxicity. 

A full hearing has now been adjourned until September 24, coroner Alan Blunsdon said. 

Mr Lyttle, who was previously Primark’s chief operating officer for a decade, has declined to comment on the death of his son.

He was brought into the company in March 2019 and was said to collect a near £1.6million a year for the role.

The exec is on a salary of £615,000, but his contract also allows an annual bonus of up to 150% of that amount.

Louis, who is understood to have worked for his father John (pictured) at Boohoo, was pronounced dead by paramedics at 6.20am on April 20

Louis, who is understood to have worked for his father John (pictured) at Boohoo, was pronounced dead by paramedics at 6.20am on April 20

The richest shopkeeper you’ve never heard of: Who is Boohoo CEO John Lyttle? 

John Lyttle, 51, was born in Ireland and after leaving school joined Primark as a trainee store manager.

He rose through the ranks to the role of head of buying before joining the Arcadia Group as buying director.

Mr Lyttle then worked at Matalan for five years as trading director before returning to Primark in 2010.

He oversaw sales rocket to over £7billion in his role as chief operating officer.

When he was appointed chief executive of Boohoo its executive chairman Mahmud Kamani described himself as ‘thrilled’ to have him on board.

He described himself as a keen runner in a recent interview, but showed the scale of his ambition at the clothing company.

Mr Lyttle said: ‘We might have started in the UK market. But really what we want to be is truly a global player’

He is currently dealing with a scandal at the high street fashion company following reports of allegations of low pay that saw its value at one point drop by £1.3billion.

Boohoo has launched an independent investigation into its supply chain over the claims workers at a factory in Leicester were paid just £3.50 an hour, which is under the minimum wage.

While it has already said it had found no evidence of the small hourly payment, it did confirm it discovered two of its suppliers had not complied with its code of conduct. Their contracts have now been terminated.

According to his LinkedIn profile, his son Louis was a former pupil at the King’s School in Canterbury, studied business management at Cardiff University and also worked at Boohoo since July last year.

The inquest heard he was born in Galway, Ireland and his occupation was confirmed as digital marketer.

Before this, he reportedly interned at banking company, Investec, and health insurers, Religare, according to LinkedIn.

At the opening held by coroner Alan Blunsdon, the cause of death was given as morphine toxicity. A full inquest has been adjourned until September 24. 

The National Crime Agency is investigating the city’s garment industry and has visited premises to investigate ‘concerns of modern slavery and human trafficking’.

Boohoo sources a large percentage of its clothing from Leicester.

Home Secretary Priti Patel called the claims against fast-fashion suppliers in the city ‘truly appalling’ and promised action.