Man dies after eating chilli sauce

Tragic news from Doncaster where an inquest has been opened and adjourned following the death of a keen amateur chef. Andrew Lee passed away in his sleep after eating a tomato sauce spiced with chillies from his father's allotment. He and his girlfriend's brother had an ongoing friendly rivalry to see who could create the hottest sauce.

On going to bed that night Mr Lee started scratching all over, finally falling asleep as his girlfriend scratched his back. When she woke up he had died. A post mortem showed he had not suffered from a pre-existing heart condition and toxicology tests are underway to establish whether an allergic reaction was to blame.

Pepper sprays which cause temporary blindness and respiratory difficulty are widely used for self defence and by security personnel. Some experts have warned of the potentially lethal effects of the sprays but this seems to be the first case on record where voluntarily consuming chillies is suspected of having fatal consequences.