Piano man's identity unveiled

A man who baffled police and care workers after being found wandering in a soaking wet suit near a southern English beach, refusing to speak, has been discharged after four months in care. The man was dubbed the "Piano Man" by the media after supposedly giving a virtuoso piano performance while being treated in a psychiatric unit, where doctors failed to identify him despite being inundated with hundreds of suggestions. A spokesman for the West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust said on Monday the man had been released after making a "marked improvement" but would not give any further details. A report in the Daily Mirror newspaper said the man had finally broken his silence, revealing that he was German and had been trying to commit suicide after losing his job in Paris when he was picked up by police. The newspaper said he had previously worked with mentally ill patients and had copied some of their characteristics. He has now returned to Germany, it said. Doctors were quoted four months ago as saying the man had drawn a grand piano after being given a pen and paper and had later played classical music on a chapel piano for hours. The Mirror cast doubt on that, saying he could "hardly play a note". ...via