He said Tiny had struck out at him “defensively” as he put it back in its vivarium after examining the snake. He said it was uncommon for snakes in captivity to cause serious injuries but told the court that he himself had been struck in the eye by an African rock python. He did not have them for macho reasons.”Ĭooper said Brandon would have known how to unwrap a python that had coiled around him, explaining that the trick was to start with the tail. “He was an experienced herpetologist who cared for his reptiles and would have had a good relationship with his animals. He said he had been impressed by the conditions Brandon kept his snakes in. Prof John Cooper, a vet and snake keeper, said he had visited Brandon’s bedroom and examined Tiny. He also had a recently fractured rib.īadri said: “It’s possible that some sort of pressure was applied to the neck or chest that caused him to asphyxiate.” However, there were no marks around his neck or chest. She told the court that she had no idea how he had died.Ī postmortem carried out by the pathologist Dr Adnan al-Badri found that Brandon’s lungs were four times heavier than would be expected and he had suffered pinpoint haemorrhages in one of his eyes – signs of asphyxia. Paramedics were called but Brandon, a landscape worker, could not be saved. She found him face down on the floor and Tiny was missing from its vivarium. She loved him,” she said, adding that if she was in her son’s bedroom with him the snake would strike at her “as if to say ‘leave him alone’.”īabs Brandon told the court that on the evening of her son’s death she was cooking dinner when she heard a crash in his bedroom. When Brandon got Tiny he could hold it in his hand. She said her son had kept snakes since he was 15. She showed the court a hand injury she had recently suffered when another of the snakes bit her. Since her son’s death she has been caring for the snakes. He had stopped putting her round his neck because she was so strong and unpredictable.” “He was more wary of Tiny than the other snakes. He would say: ‘For goodness’ sake, Tiny.’ At other times he would tell me: ‘Mum, you’ve got to come and look, she’s being really good today.’ I don’t think he ever got bit by Tiny. She said: “She would get cross and hiss and pretend to strike. His mother told the inquest that Tiny sometimes appeared aggressive. The inquest in Basingstoke was told that Brandon was a responsible snake owner who loved his pets. As well as Tiny, his bedroom was home to another nine snakes and 12 tarantulas. He made clear he did not believe the snake had been aggressive towards its owner, but the most likely scenario was that the reptile had been coiling around him in an affectionate way.īrandon, 31, died in the village of Church Crookham on 25 August. The coroner for north-east Hampshire, Andrew Bradley, recorded a verdict of misadventure, saying he believed the python was “instrumental” in Brandon’s death.
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