Suicide threats of Paula Yates 'drove Hutchence to kill himself'

The family of tragic Australian rock star Michael Hutchence yesterday launched a sharp attack on his former lover Paula Yates, claiming she drove him to suicide by threatening to kill herself and their daughter Tiger Lily.

The family of tragic Australian rock star Michael Hutchence yesterday launched a sharp attack on his former lover Paula Yates, claiming she drove him to suicide by threatening to kill herself and their daughter Tiger Lily.

The former INXS singer's mother, Patricia Glassop, and his half sister Tina Hutchence, also claimed that the rock star was not in love with Yates before he died and intended to leave her. The pair who have written a book about Hutchence said they were not put off publishing despite the death of Yates in September.

"We had to set so many things straight. The book is about Michael, Paula was only two-and-a-half-years of his 38-years," Tina told ITV's This Morning.

Hutchence was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a Sydney hotel room in November 1997. While the official coroner's verdict was suicide Yates refused to accept the decision claiming he had accidentally hanged himself in a bizarre sex game.

Yates, who had left husband Sir Bob Geldof for Hutchence, struggled to come to terms with his death and a bitter war of words broke out between her and his family. His mother insisted: "Michael never wanted to marry her and he told her that up front. She knew that he was never going to marry. It was not because it was Paula, Michael never wanted to marry, there are men who do not want to marry."

She insisted that he was planning to leave her saying it was "because of the way she had changed and the way he had changed." Tina added: "He became terribly depressed and withdrawn... for the last two-and-a-half-years of his life he was a very unhappy person and he got worse and worse."