Man castrated with kitchen knife

Surgeons have been unable to sew back a man's genitals after he was castrated with a kitchen knife.

The 47-year-old man from Luton in Bedfordshire was taken by ambulance to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital after he called emergency services early on Friday morning.

The single man, who works as a driver and it understood to have a history of mental illness, was found at his flat in Elizabeth Street at 0530 BST.

He is under sedation in the hospital where he is said to be in a stable condition.

Bedfordshire police are trying to establish if the man castrated himself or if it was carried out by another person.

Conflicting reports

"We are treating this as a serious assault," a spokesman said.

"We are appealing for anyone who was in the neighbourhood of Elizabeth Street on Thursday night or between five and six o'clock on Friday morning to contact us.

"We are also making a direct appeal to anyone who was in the flat when this happened to get in contact.

"It may have been something that went terribly wrong and we need to find out what happened.

"At the moment we have conflicting reports: the man has said he did it himself and that he consented to someone doing it to him and that he did not agree."