A popular and promising young student from Bristol has been found dead after an extreme sex act went awry.
Christopher Edmund Harrold was found by his roommates in May of this year. An inquest this week heard that the PhD student was engaged in auto-erotic asphixation – a method of increasing sexual excitement by restricting oxygen flow to the brain by strangulation or suffocation.
According to The Bristol Post, police officers found a laptop and mobile phone near him in his room.
Assistant coroner Robert Sowersby did not elaborate on the explicit details of the sex act but confirmed that there was “nothing to suggest” Harrold had an intention of hurting himself.
The court heard that the popular student had recently moved house to live with friends; Alex Neville, Allison Rubenok and Sarah Becca Whittaker.
(Chris Harrold (second from left) with his physics team Chris Sparrow, Jacques Carolan and Dr Anthony Laing)
On the morning of May 2, Harrold’s friends realised they had not seen the physics student in almost two days. Whittaker went to visit his room where she found him slumped in the corner.
Shocked, Whittaker ran from the room. Rubenok discovered that it appeared Harrold had hung himself.
The friends claim Harrold had been in a good state of mind prior to his death. They described him as being excited about the house move and although he had recently split from his girlfriend, the friends said he was not devastated.
The court heard police officer Shirley Lindsay found a mobile phone and open laptop, both pointing towards the body and other items found in the room “strongly-suggested” auto-erotic asphixation.
Sowersby recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.
In a statement, Harrold’s mother, Carmel Dawson, described her son as a “smart, hardworking and competitive” person. He was described as fit and active and a massive fan of rugby.
