Naked man suffocated in condom

A thrill-seeker killed himself by pulling a condom over his head to try to give himself a sexual high, an inquest has heard.

Gary Ashbrook was discovered naked on his bed alongside three empty cans of nitrous oxide he used to blow up the contraceptive.

The 31-year-old had been experimenting with the drug, also known as laughing gas, with friends he had met online, said housemate Michael Young, who found his body in May.



Mr Young told the inquest: 'He had been putting a condom on his head for two to three months. 'He learned this through some friends of his for sexual gratification.'

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze, recording a verdict of death by misadventure, warned against the dangers of taking nitrous oxide.

He told the hearing at Eastbourne magistrates court: 'If people use nitrous oxide, in the same way as any other drug, and it is abused, it carries with it considerable dangers.'