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BBC Engineer Described as a 'Functioning Alcoholic' Commits Suicide Via E-Cigarette

"This is the first time I have heard of someone dying directly from this in Buckinghamshire."

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We’ve heard of e-cigarettes exploding in someone’s face, but using it to commit suicide? That’s new. According to reports, a BBC engineer was found dead in his apartment after allegedly using the electronic smoking device to do that very thing.

The Daily Mailreports that Jonathan Keen consumed a mixture of alcohol and the liquid used in e-cigarttes to end his life. His girlfriend Vanessa found his body on Sept. 24 after becoming alarmed when she hadn’t heard from him in 24 hours. Buckinghamshire Coroner Richard Hulett ruled the death a suicide and said it was the first time he had heard of someone “dying directly from this” in the county.

Keen was described as a functioning alcoholic and left a suicide note on the kitchen table. Police also found discarded notes in the garbage bins. “Looking at his notes and the toxicology,” Hulett added, “he got into a frame of mind where he decided to do this. What he was feeling was quite negative.”

He was 46 years old.

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