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| David Hockney's assistant died 'after drinking acid' | David Hockney's assistant died 'after drinking acid' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| David Hockney's assistant died after drinking acid at the painter's home, an inquest has heard. | David Hockney's assistant died after drinking acid at the painter's home, an inquest has heard. |
| Dominic Elliott, 23, died in March after he was taken to hospital from the world-renowned artist's home in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. | Dominic Elliott, 23, died in March after he was taken to hospital from the world-renowned artist's home in Bridlington, East Yorkshire. |
| The inquest in Hull heard he had taken cocaine, ecstasy and temazepam before he drank the liquid. | |
| David Hockney, who was not in court, was asleep at home at the time. | |
| The artist's former partner, John Fitzherbert, told the hearing he drove Mr Elliott to Scarborough Hospital in the early hours of the morning. | |
| Mr Fitzherbert said that in the day leading up to the incident, he and Mr Elliott had drunk alcohol, taken cocaine and smoked cannabis. | |
| 'Completely unaware' | |
| A pathologist told the court that temazepam and ecstasy were also found in his body. | A pathologist told the court that temazepam and ecstasy were also found in his body. |
| Dr Richard Shepherd said the acid severely burned Mr Elliott's mouth, tongue and throat before perforating his stomach. | Dr Richard Shepherd said the acid severely burned Mr Elliott's mouth, tongue and throat before perforating his stomach. |
| In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Hockney said he was "completely unaware" of what Mr Fitzherbert and Mr Elliott had been doing that day. | |
| The artist said he was asleep in his bedroom at the five-bedroom former guesthouse when he was woken on the morning of 17 March to be told Mr Elliott had died. | |
| Mr Hockney said he had gone to bed at 21:00 GMT the night before and, although he came down to the kitchen at midnight to make a cup of tea and met Mr Fitzherbert and his chief assistant, Jean Pierre De Lima, there was "nothing out of the ordinary". | |
| He did not see Mr Elliott before going to bed, Mr Hockney said. | |
| He said Mr Elliott and Mr Fitzherbert had been in a relationship for about four months and described how a number of people lived in his house, including Mr De Lima and another man, Jonathan Wilkinson, who works in the art industry. | |
| 'Jekyll and Hyde character' | |
| Mr Hockney said he had a large double bedroom where he also did portraits. He said Mr Fitzherbert had another large, self-contained room and they both led separate lives. | |
| He said he had known Mr Elliott for about 10 years and described how he helped him with all aspects of his studio work at his home and in other premises in Bridlington. | |
| But the artist said he only knew him "professionally" and he did not "really know him in a social aspect". | |
| He said Mr Elliott sometimes drank a lot and this gave him a "Jekyll and Hyde" character. | |
| "I cannot comment on any of the lifestyle habits he has," Mr Hockney said in his statement. | |
| He said he had not been well at the time of the incident due to a mini-stroke. |