THE body of a man who died after a kinky sex game went wrong was found by his partner when she got home from work, an inquest has heard.

Jan Zajac was discovered naked apart from a latex gas mask, with his hands handcuffed in front of him and a rope around his neck at his home in Southgate Avenue, Bridgwater.

The coroner concluded that doctors' son Mr Zajac, aged 39, originally from Slovakia, had intended to "suffocate himself to heighten his sexual arousal", but did not mean to take his own life.

His partner, school teacher Katie Duckworth, described in a written statement to the hearing how she made the gruesome discovery after returning home from work on November 9.

She said: "I shouted, 'It isn't funny' as I thought it was supposed to be a joke."

Miss Duckworth described how the couple met through an online dating site when they both lived and worked in London.

They got on so well that they decided to move away from the capital and found a house to rent in Bridgwater, where she obtained a job as a teacher, while Mr Zajac commuted to Bath, where he worked as a project manager.

He soon became stressed by his work and the commute to Bath and also having to regularly travel to London.

Miss Duckworth told how she came across a rucksack in their house containing a gas mask, ropes and underwear, which Mr Zajac confirmed he had used in sex games in the past, although he agreed to get rid of the items.

Police officers called to the scene discovered a set of handcuff keys, an opened bottle of poppers, used to enhance sexual pleasure, and a book on sexual fetishes.

Post mortem tests also revealed that Mr Zajac had taken cocaine shortly before his death.

Senior coroner for Somerset Tony Williams recorded a conclusion that Mr Zajac died as a result of auto erotic asphyxiation and that his death was accidental, with the cause given as hanging.