Professor died in Oxford University pal's headlock - The Sun

AN Oxford University professor died after he was held in a headlock during a fight with another academic, an inquest heard yesterday.

Prof Steven Rawlings, 50, suffered a fatal heart attack due to lack of oxygen while being restrained by his colleague and oldest friend Dr Devinderjit Sivia.

Devastated Dr Sivia texted Prof Rawlings' wife Linda to tell her: "I'm terribly sorry but I have killed him."

Eminent astrophysicist Prof Rawlings had launched into a tirade of abuse and hit Dr Sivia, who pinned him to the floor and put him in a headlock.

In a video interview with cops, played at the Oxford hearing, ex-Nasa worker Dr Sivia said: "I used my body to hold him down, trying to control him. He tried to scratch me and pull my hair and I pushed him further to the ground."

Forensic pathologist Nicholas Hunt said: "This form of restraint is a particularly dangerous one and would have been even more so in combination with neck compression."

Indian-born maths lecturer Dr Sivia, 49, was held on suspicion of murder but no charges were brought. He and married Prof Rawlings, of Letcombe Regis, Wantage, Oxon, had been teenage undergraduates together.

Prof Rawlings, a lead scientist in the world's largest radio telescope project, had previously suffered a breakdown. He died while staying with pal Dr Sivia after he again began acting strangely. The inquest continues.

j.pyatt@the-sun.co.uk