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Death of man after fetish festival not suspicious, say police

The man was pronounced dead on Tuesday after the Flamefest event which took place in Tunbridge Wells over the weekend.

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The death of a man following a festival featuring “fetish play equipment” and an outdoor dungeon is not being treated as suspicious, police said.

The man was pronounced dead on Tuesday morning after the Flamefest event which took place in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, over the weekend.

An unconscious woman also received medical treatment and was taken to a local hospital by air ambulance. She is now in a stable condition, Kent Police said.

Detectives are appealing for anyone with information about the man’s death to contact police. He was pronounced dead after officers were called by ambulance staff to a campsite in Tunbridge Wells on Tuesday morning.

It was the second year of Flamefest, where campers can “explore pain, experience pleasure and fulfil your fantasies”. Organiser Helen Smedley created the festival “to bring together the purest, most hedonistic elements of the party scene”, according to its website. Ms Smedley declined to comment on the death.

A police spokesman said: “Officers making inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in Tunbridge Wells are not treating the death as suspicious.

Police vehicles at the site of the Flamefest festival in Tunbridge Wells
Police vehicles at the site of the Flamefest festival in Tunbridge Wells (Gareth Fuller/PA)

“Officers were called by South East Coast Ambulance Service at 6.14am on Tuesday 22 August 2017 to a campsite in Powder Mill Lane, Tunbridge Wells.

“Patrols and ambulance crews went to the scene where a man was pronounced dead. A report is being compiled for the coroner. A woman who was taken to hospital is in a stable condition.

“Officers who are making inquiries to establish the circumstances of the death for the coroner’s report would ask anyone who may have information to assist those inquiries to contact Kent Police by calling 01622 604100 quoting reference 22-0185.”

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