The prostitute specialising in kinky sex who testified in the trial of British businessman Shrien Dewani committed suicide by hanging‚ an inquest has heard.

Leopold Leisser‚ who sold his services as a male escort under the name “The German Master”‚ was 45 when he killed himself.

The inquest heard that he was extremely stressed by the trial and that the publicity had lost him clients‚ forcing him to close down his website‚ the Daily Mail reported.

His body was found by a friend at his flat at in Birmingham on September 13‚ the newspaper said‚ reporting that an inquest has now ruled his death to be suicide.

Leisser specialised in sadomasochism and role play.

Anni Dewani‚ from Sweden‚ was murdered on her honeymoon in Cape Town in November 2010. Her husband Shrien‚ from the UK‚ was acquitted of involvement after the court ruled the testimony of other accused was unreliable. Three other men‚ including their taxi driver‚ were jailed.

During the trial in 2014‚ the State attempted to prove that Dewani was an unhappy groom.

Leisser testified how Dewani had paid him hundreds of pounds for sadomasochistic sex. He said he had three sexual encounters with Dewani – the last just a month before Dewani proposed to Anni.

However‚ his testimony was never heard in full after the High Court ruled his sexual preferences were not relevant to the charge of murder.

In Leisser’s statement to the UK police in 2011‚ he said their last session was drug-fuelled.

 “During the session he took cocaine and ketamine (a short-acting hallucinogen)... He sniffed the cocaine and ketamine and also rubbed cocaine onto his nipples on more than one occasion‚” Leisser said.

 Dewani brought rubber shorts and a vest to their first liaison‚ Leisser said.