Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Man is killed by his 8ft python
Snake suffocated her owner
A SNAKE lover was killed by his 8ft pet rock python called Tiny – when the reptile suffocated him in “a show of affection”, an inquest heard.
Dan Brandon, 31, was found dead by his horrified parents in his bedroom, where he kept 10 snakes and 12 tarantulas – and where Tiny was hiding.
His tearful mum Babs told the inquest: “I heard a crash from upstairs and I thought Dan had knocked something over, I assumed it was his dumbbells.
“I went up and he was face down on the floor. He felt a little bit cold. I shook him and called 999. Nobody saw Tiny until later – she had hidden under a box.”
In the first case of its kind in Britain, there was no sign of aggression from the snake and no bite marks, Basingstoke coroner’s court was told.
Blood vessels in Mr Brandon’s eyes had burst and his lungs were four times heavier than normal, evidence of asphyxiation.
Mr Brandon, who lived with Babs and dad Derek in
Church Crookham,
Hants, died on
August 25 last year after returning home from his work as a landscaper.
Snake expert Professor John Cooper, who examined Tiny as well as Mr Brandon’s other snakes, said: “Everything suggests the pets would have been looked after properly.”
Mrs Brandon said of Tiny: “She was his [Mr Brandon’s] baby and she loved him.
“She could be temperamental, if she didn’t want to be held she would pretend to strike or hiss but she never felt threatened by him and he loved her.”
Coroner Andrew Bradley said: “The most likely scenario is Tiny was engaged with Dan and I have no doubt she was coiled round him and there is a point she either took hold of him unexpectedly or tripped him up.
“I do not believe in any way it was aggression from Tiny nor a confrontation, if anything it was a show of affection, a moment of peace.”
Verdict: misadventure.
I don’t think it was aggression, if anything ... a moment of peace ANDREW BRADLEY BASINGSTOKE CORONER