A transgender woman accidentally hanged herself while taking bondage photos in her bedroom, an inquest has heard.
Zoe O’Brien, 39, was found dead hanging from the ceiling at her home in Brighton on June 7, the city’s coroners court heard.
A remote controlled camera and bondage equipment found in her room led police to conclude she was taking photos at the time of her death.
Zoe O’Brien tragically died while she was taking photos of herself in her Brighton bedroom
Ms O’Brien was called Gary Burke before she transitioned to become a woman, the inquest heard.
Her live-in landlord, who was on holiday at the time of her death, became concerned when he failed to see her on motion-sensitive cameras he had installed in the kitchen of their home.
Neighbours and police then found Ms O’Brien hanging from the ceiling. A camera on a tripod was set up in the room and the last photo had been taken shortly before 10pm on June 6, the day before she was found.
Equipment for so-called BDSM sessions (Bondage, Discipline, Sadism and Masochism) was found in the room, suggesting Ms O’Brien was photographing her ‘erotic asphyxiation’.
BDSM equipment was found with her, suggesting she was photographing ‘erotic asphyxiation’
She was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Consultant pathologist Dr Mark Taylor later gave the cause of death as hanging.
Detective sergeant Chris Lane said in a statement: ‘Based on my findings no other person was present when he died, and no suicide note was found.
‘I suspect she killed herself accidentally while taking photos.’
Assistant coroner for Brighton and Hove Catharine Palmer gave a verdict of misadventure after ruling Miss O’Brien did not intend to cause her own death.
She said: ‘I am satisfied she was conducting an act in the privacy of her own home and and was alone. The fact she was alone meant if things did go wrong there was no one there to help her.’
In July this year, doctors issued a warning to people considering taking part in BDSM sessions to take care not to get injured. A increased interest in the practice is attributed to the book and film, 50 Shades of Grey.
Neighbours used a spare key to enter the house in this street in the city after Ms O’Brien’s landlord reported not seeing her