News Service from House Harris

UK: Briton kills self in chainsaw decapitation: coroner

LONDON, Nov 19 AFP - A British man committed suicide by cutting off his own head with a chainsaw, an inquest into his death has found.

David Phyall, 50, took his own life because he was "irrationally opposed" to leaving his home, which had been repossessed, Deputy Coroner Simon Burge said at Winchester Coroner's Court in southern England.

"In the 15 years I have been sitting as a deputy coroner, this is the most bizarre case I can recall," said Burge, recording a verdict of suicide.

"He thought through how he was going to commit suicide very carefully. He went to a great deal of trouble."

Phyall, who had been drinking alcohol but not taken any drugs, tied the chainsaw to the leg of a snooker table and plugged it into a timer.

Police were called to his apartment in Bishopstoke, southern England, on July 5 when his parents could not contact him.

Requesting the parents to remain outside the property, officers broke in and found the walls and floor covered in blood, with Phyall's partially decapitated body in the lounge.

The apartment block where he was living was set to be demolished and despite various efforts from the local housing authority, Phyall - who suffered from mental illness and had attempted suicide in the past - had declined several offers for an alternative home.

Eventually, a court decided that his home, the only apartment in the block still occupied by anyone, was to be repossessed.

AFP srpss =0A