World Vignettes

Smell of death

MANCHESTER: A 16-year-old boy obsessed with smelling nice died after months of repeatedly spraying his entire body with deodorant, a coroner ruled. Jonathan Capewell had 10 times the lethal dosage of propane and butane in his blood when he suffered a heart attack and died on July 29, coroner Barrie Williams said yesterday. “It is believed the fumes built up in his body following months of high deodorant use,” Williams said. “His personal hygiene led him to use more than was normal in a confined space, which limits ventilation,” said the coronor, who recorded the death as accidental. Jonathan’s father, Keith Capewell, said his son would cover his entire body with deodorant at least twice a day. “When we told him he was using too much, he said he just wanted to smell good,” Capewell said. “Even when we were in a room downstairs we couldn’t just smell it, we could taste it,” the father said. “You wouldn’t have thought that could have been the cause for someone to die. What aprice to pay for smelling nice.”