A MUSICIAN suffered a cardiac arrest as he slept, an inquest found.

Simon Barker, frontman of Lewes-based punk band Heavy Load, was found lifeless on his bedroom floor in Hova Villas, Hove.

Three days before he died, Mr Barker was the victim of a common assault, Brighton Coroners’ Court was told.

Georgina Carter, his neighbour, witnessed the attack from her bathroom window.

She would regularly exchange conversation with Mr Barker, who often sat outside the front of his apartment either smoking a cigarette or drinking tea. The court heard that he would “talk to anyone” when he saw them.

Ms Carter said she heard “commotion” from outside Mr Barker’s property.

She told the inquest: “I could hear all the shouting and heard a crash. Then I heard Simon saying ‘don’t do it to me’.”

Ms Carter quickly went to help Mr Barker, who thanked her.

He was not said to be affected at the time. The attacker was never traced. No injuries were found on him although he said he was pushed in the chest and kicked in his leg.

Mr Barker had mild learning disabilities and lived in assisted living accommodation, receiving one-on-one support 13 hours a day.

On the morning of August 10, workers became concerned as the 45-year-old did had not left his bedroom all morning.

Staff went to check on him and found him dead in his room at 11.30am.

Matt Norman, manager of Hova Villas, described Mr Barker as a “rock and roll star”.

The pathology report by Dr Mark Howard found Mr Barker, who played at Glastonbury and toured Europe with his band, had undiagnosed coronary artery disease. People with learning disabilities are more prone to developing heart problems, he said.

Mr Barker also had left ventricular hypertrophy, meaning the left pumping chamber thickens.

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley said Mr Barker’s severe coronary artery disease “could have killed him at any time”.

She said the cause of death was cardiac arrest that, in turn, arose from his coronary artery disease. His background of learning difficulties and enlarged left ventricle were contributing factors, along with smoking.

In her conclusion, she said Mr Barker “died of cardiac arrest due to previously undiagnosed coronary artery disease”.

The coroner said she had no doubt Mr Barker died in his sleep and would not have known of the cardiac arrest.

She “did not know” what effects the attack three days prior to his death had on Mr Barker, “emotionally or physiologically”.

Ms Hamilton-Deeley called Mr Barker an “extremely interesting man” and said it was a “privilege” to hold his inquest.