An inquest heard yesterday how a 35-year-old man literally drank himself to death after consuming too much water.

Shaun McNamara, 35, was found on the floor of his bathroom last September after downing a massive quantity of water.

It was initially believed he had suffered a heart attack – but a post-mortem revealed that he had downed so much fluid rapidly that his brain had swollen.

This led to his bizarre death from water intoxication – a highly unusual cause which has very few recorded cases and is normally linked to marathon runners drinking too much water after a race.

At Shaun McNamara’s inquest Dr Ian Reed, who carried out the post-mortem, said: "In 35 years as a pathologist, I have never come across such a case."

He added that excessive consumption of water could be associated with someone suffering psychological problems.

Via Arbroath