‘Britain’s fattest man’ dies in Livingston at 22

Liam Johnston suffered a suspected heart attack at his home last Thursday. Paramedics who were called to his terraced house in Gleneagles Way fought desperately to save his life.

However, they were unable to resuscitate Mr Johnston, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Scottish Ambulance Service had to summon the help of the Scottish Fire Service to remove his body from his bedroom using a bed frame as a stretcher.

Teams of firefighters from the two pumps which attended removed the front door and dismantled part of the house wall and the garden fence to clear enough space carry him out to the ambulance.

His body was taken to Edinburgh City Mortuary, where a post mortem examination was carried out.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We can confirm that officers were called to assist the Ambulance and Fire Services at an address in Livingston where a 22-year-old man was taken ill on Thursday morning.

“A report surrounding the circumstances of his death – which are not being treated as suspicious – will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal at Livingston. His next of kin have been  notified.”

Last year Mr Johnston was fast-tracked for a gastric band operation in which the size of the stomach is reduced so a smaller amount of food is required to make you feel full.

People who knew him said he suffered from depression and rarely, if ever, left home, preferring to lead a sedentary life playing computer games.

Last year police charged him with fraud and he was taken to court for using stolen credit card details to order takeaway pizzas.

The sheriff, the fiscal and clerk of court had to convene the first hearing in a custody cell because Mr Johnston was unable to climb upstairs.

A sheriff later ordered him to pay compensation totalling £120 to Domino’s Pizza restaurant in Bathgate and produce a receipt.

Meanwhile, his weight, which had already tipped the scales at 40 stones, rose over a period of a few months to 45 stones.

His lawyer Alan Jackson told Livingston Sheriff Court at the time that Mr. Johnston was unable to get out of the house.

Ambulance men who tried to save his life on Thursday estimated his weight at around 54 stones. But sources confirmed that when his body arrived at the mortuary he was found to weigh 66 stones.

His grieving mum Mary, 41, who lives in the Dedridge area of the town, was too upset to comment.