A MAN accidentally gassed himself while trying to cook on a barbecue, an inquest heard yesterday.

Richard Longstaff, 62, described as an “experimental” cook, was found slumped in a deckchair behind his kitchen door after worried neighbours went to check on him in October last year.

He died of carbon monoxide poisoning after lighting charcoal on a tray in his Stockton kitchen. It was believed he was trying to create an indoor barbecue but was overcome by fumes.

The inquest at Teesside Coroner’s Court heard that the single man, who lived alone, may have been dead in his kitchen, in Egglescliffe Close, Stockton, for a couple of days before being discovered by the neighbours.

Tape was discovered along the bottom of the kitchen door – possibly to stop the smoke spreading through the rest of the house.

His brother, Ronnie Longstaff, a paramedic, said: “He liked to experiment with cooking and was always looking at different ways of cooking fish and other things.

“When I went home and explained to my wife and daughter what had happened to him, my daughter said she had seen a cookery programme that week which showed you how to do an indoor barbecue – so I assumed he had had a go.

“If I remember correctly, there was a bread bun on the side of the kitchen worksurface near the cooker, there was margarine out and I vaguely remember a chicken leg.”

Pathologist Dr Jonathan Hoffman said the cause of death was consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning and that Mr Longstaff had no health problems other than gout.

Deputy Coroner Tony Eastwood said: “Mr Longstaff was a 62-year-old who seemed a keen fisherman, and also a fisherman most of his working life. He had no financial worries or health issues and there was nothing at all in the run-up to the events to say he had formed an intention to harm himself.

“I have to conclude . . . Mr Longstaff was attempting to undertake experimental cooking and tragically created a situation which ended his life.”

He recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.