"Piano Man" mentally ill, lawyers say

Lawyers for the silent "Piano Man" who was found on a British beach four months ago said Tuesday that their client is mentally ill and had not faked his symptoms.

Two attorneys identified the young man, who began speaking to doctors on Friday after months of silence, as Andreas Grassl, 20, from the southern German village of Prosdorf near the Czech border. They declined to say where Grassl was at the moment.

Christian Baumann, one of two attorneys representing the young man, told reporters his client was suffering from a mental illness when he was found wandering on a beach in southern England on April 7, soaking wet and unable, or unwilling. Baumann denied recent media reports the months of silence had been staged.

Grassl began speaking on Friday to doctors at West Kent National Health Service and Social Care Trust, where he was being treated. He flew home to Germany the following day, the AP reports.