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, who worked for his dad, found unresponsive on April 20 at 5am
- 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
The 20-year-old son of Boohoo's £1.6million-a-year 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 mansion near Sevenoaks, Kent.
He was discovered unresponsive and not breathing after failing to get up for work at 5am on Monday, April 20.Louis, who is understood to have worked for his Irish father at Boohoo, was pronounced dead by paramedics at 6.20am. He is survived by his parents John and Clodagh, and two sisters.
An inquest into his death of Mr Lyttle opened at County Hall in Maidstone, Kent, with the cause of death given as morphine toxicity.
According to his LinkedIn profile, 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.
His father, a marathon enthusiast who helped run Primark before moving to Boohoo in 2019, travels from Sevenoaks to the company's headquarters in Manchester by train to work through the week, and his digital marketer son may have regularly travelled with him.
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
Louis is believed to work for Boohoo, according to his LinkedIn, and was found unresponsive after failing to get up for work
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 after top jobs at Matalan and the Arcadia Group, 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 Offaly-born exec is on a salary of £615,000, but his contract also allows an annual bonus of up to £900,000. A further £50million bonus is on offer if he can push the company's value from £2billion to £5billion.
Put Boohoo's share price has tanked by £1.40 to £2.66 after it was stung by the Leicester sweat-shop scandal.
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 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
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.
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.
Factory workers at Faiza Fashion in Leicester - where Boohoo and PLT clothing is allegedly made - operate their sewing machines despite the risk of contracting Covid-19
'Staff working in sweatshops during lockdown, paid below the minimum wage and fined for smiling': Scandals that have rocked fast fashion behemoth Boohoo
Boohoo has become a fashion phenomenon - now worth £3billion, but en route to becoming one of the UK's most popular brands it has been stung by a series of scandals in recent years.
Last month the fast fashion brand came under fire following an article which alleged that workers in a Leicester factory making clothes for the company were being paid as little as £3.50 an hour.
The report said the factory, which displayed the Jaswal Fashions signage, was also operating during the local coronavirus lockdown without additional health measures in place.
In 2017 employees working for Boohoo.com allegedly risked getting fired for smiling or checking their mobile phones, an investigation by Channel 4 found.
Boohoo founder Mahmud Kamani, pictured right, alongside his son Umar, who helped them set up Pretty Little Thing. Their supply chains and working conditions have come under scrutiny
The conditions are an open secret, or rather, Leicester’s ‘dirty secret’ and were investigated by Dispatches.
They found factories making clothes for River Island, New Look, Boohoo and Missguided were paying workers as little as £3 an hour in conditions that fell short of health and safety standards.
And an inquiry by Parliament’s Human Rights Commission three years ago found that between a third and three quarters working in these factories were paid below minimum wage and were working in unsafe environments.
Most are from minority ethnic groups, with around 33.6 per cent born outside the UK.
In the programme Kieron Hardman a former Boohoo team leader alleged: "In one instance, I received an email to ask me if I could give somebody a strike because somebody was smiling."
Liana Wood, an employment lawyer, said of the undercover reporting: “If that individual is 1 minute late and they have to work 14 minutes unpaid, then that is potentially unauthorised deduction from wages.”
The charity Labour Behind the Label has accused Boohoo of failing to do enough to monitor conditions at factories in Leicester.
The retailer said it would look into the claims but insisted it had ‘followed and adhered to all aspects of [Government] guidance’.
Boohoo was founded in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane and the company is now worth more than £3billion.
Before Boohoo shot onto the ever-growing fast fashion scene, its owner Mr Kamani, 55, sold handbags in traders' stall.
He spotted the potential of internet sales and set up his online retailer in 2006 with the aim of delivering their own-branded fashion at rock bottom prices.
The company started out with just three staff and operated out of a Manchester warehouse.
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