THE father of the “Piano Man” has denied that his son was a conman and said that he deserved care and time to explain himself.

Andreas Grassl, 20, was back with his family yesterday in the Bavarian village of Prosdorf. Josef Grassl, 46, his father, was unable to explain his son’s discovery, soaking wet and wearing a suit, on a beach in Kent four months ago, or his subsequent refusal to speak until last Friday, when he allegedly told hospital staff that he was gay and had been attempting suicide when he was found.

But Herr Grassl demonstrated his willingness to protect his son from the outside world by chasing a German TV cameraman out of his farmyard with a pitchfork.

He said that he and his wife Christina, 43, had not seen the pictures of their son that were broadcast around the world because of their heavy workload on the farm. They had reported him missing in May after he left home for Saarbrücken to serve in a hospital as an alternative to military service and failed to answer his mobile phone.

Herr Grassl said: “It wasn’t until last Friday that we heard from the German Embassy in London that he was even in England. The next day he was on a plane to Munich and I collected him and brought him home.

“He hasn’t explained exactly what happened although I know that he is not a conman and that there was no one big thing that happened to him. My wife and I know that we must protect him because we fear for his state of mind and his state of health.

“I never knew he was in England. I never saw any pictures. I have spent the last 25 years, every day, working my farm and I don’t have time for TV and newspapers. If he wants to explain he will, but he needs time, not all this attention. It is the worst thing.”

Friends in the village said that Andreas Grassl spent hours in internet chat rooms where he was known as “Scatman”. He also wrote a column for a local newspaper about pop music.

Franz Loeffler, the mayor, said: “I know this family as a good and decent Christian family. If Andreas is the piano man then there will be a very good reason for what happened with no evil intent behind it.”

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