Doctors investigate Czech clue in 'Piano Man' case

Doctors caring for the Piano Man, the talented but silent musician found on the Kent coast seven weeks ago, will seek to confirm his identity this week as a formally trained Czech pianist.

Doctors caring for the Piano Man, the talented but silent musician found on the Kent coast seven weeks ago, will seek to confirm his identity this week as a formally trained Czech pianist.

Using information obtained by The Independent, staff looking after the patient, who has not said a word since he was found in wet clothes, will try to establish if he is Tomas Strnad, the son of a Prague dentist with an ability to play classical music from memory.

Since his discovery on 7 April, the only means of expression used by Piano Man has been to draw pictures of a piano and play the instrument from memory.

Doctors at the West Kent NHS Trust, who are sifting through dozens of suggested identities from around the world, hope that using word association will gently trigger memories to see if their patient is Mr Strnad.

The move comes after members of a Prague rock band formed by Mr Strnad contacted The Independent last week to point out similarities between Piano Man and the 6ft-tall Czech musician, whom they described as a "lonely genius".

Klaudius Kryspin, 38, who went on to join a famous Czech Republic rock group, Prazsky Vyber, said he became convinced of Piano Man's identity after seeing internet pictures .

The lead singer of Prazsky Vyber said yesterday he had seen Mr Strnad last month in a "disoriented" state and talking of going abroad. Michael Kocab said: "His state seemed to be the way it has been described by the [British] hospital. He was not himself. He walked beside me for a few metres and mumbled something about wanting to go abroad in order to build a career."