US execution delayed by pill overdose

The execution of a death-row inmate in the US has been postponed – after he overdosed on pills.

The execution of Lawrence Reynolds, 43, was due to take place in Ohio, US, tomorrow but will now take place next Tuesday.

The prisoner was found unconscious in his cell last night.

He had been scheduled to die by lethal injection for the killing of his Cuyahoga Falls neighbour in 1994.

Reynolds has been upgraded from serious to stable condition at a Youngstown hospital.

State governor Ted Strickland issued the seven-day reprieve to allow Reynolds to be released from hospital and to provide state prison staff with extra time to prepare for his execution.