Actor Luke Westlake, best known as Lee Peck in Luther, was 26-year-old when he was found hanged at his Buckinghamshire property on June 18.
The local coroner’s office confirmed that Westlake died by suicide and had extremely high levels of THC in his system, implying that he had used cannabis just before hanging himself.
The ArtsEd Drama School’s graduate texted his ex-girlfriend more than once prior to his suicide, threatening to kill himself.
He had a history of suicidal attempts dating back to April as the pandemic prohibited him from work and mental health treatment, especially for childhood abuse trauma.
“If someone is using, it will be very problematic for them to have that treatment,” Dr. John Pimm said.
“You should try to deal with the drug and alcohol problem and stabilize it for a reasonable amount of time. The key issue is that in trauma therapy, you will delve into very distressing things from someone’s past – in order to that they need to be in a really good place.”
“If you have not done the pre-work it is very risky, it is like going into surgery without the pre-work.”
Westlake starred in Luther and BBC dramas No Offence and Doctors.
