Snake handler found dead next to his escaped pet python was strangled

Coroner to investigate whether a python played a role in Mr Brandon's death

Dan Brandon pictured with a python (Dan Brandon/Facebook )

A 31-year-old man found dead near his escaped pet python was strangled, according to new post mortem evidence.

Dan Brandon, an experienced snake handler, was found dead at his home in Church Crookham, Hampshire in August. One of his snakes, a pet python, was out of its pen and lying near the body, according to reports.

Mr Brandon, a snake enthusiast who had posted a number of pictures of himself with a number of exotic reptiles, died of asphyxiation, Basingstoke Coroner’s Court heard.

Dan Brandon with a snake wrapped around his neck (Dan Brandon/Facebook ) (Dan Brandon/Facebook)

An initial inquest session was opened on Monday, and further hearings will take place in November.

Hampshire Police said the death was currently being treated as non-suspicious, but that officers were carrying out enquiries on behalf of the coroner.

The coroner will investigate whether the python played any role in Mr Brandon’s death. If it is discovered that the python was behind the death, it would be the first time a python has never been linked to a death in the UK.

It is extremely rare for pythons to attack humans: in the United States, seventeen people have died in constrictor snake related incidents between 1978 and 2012, according to the animal welfare organisation The Humane Society.

Dan Brandon holding snakes (Dan Brandon/Facebook ) (Dan Brandon/Facebook)

In 2013, two Canadian brothers aged four and six years old were killed after an African rock python escaped from its cage in a pet shop near their bedroom.

John Cottrell, who set up a JustGiving page raising money in Mr Brandon’s memory, said:

"[Dan] was obsessed with snakes, spiders, birds and all wildlife, in his memory we have set up two fundraising pages, one for the [World Wildlife Fund] and one for the [Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]

"We have struggled when looking for photos for his funeral to find any when he isn't holding a spider, snake, small bird, toad, slow worm, hedgehog, feeding a fox, stroking cattle, befriending a cat or dog so these charities seemed the perfect choice."