A university student who took part in an “initiation-style” agricultural society event died as the result of the “toxic effects” of binge drinking and the lack of awareness of its “inherent risks”, an inquest has found.
Newcastle University student Ed Farmer, an economics fresher, was rushed to hospital in 2016 after drinking “excessive amounts of alcohol”.
During the inquest at Newcastle Civic Centre, a series of witnesses told how Farmer had been involved in the “drink-fuelled” event, which involved vodka being served in a pig’s head.
The student, from Leicester, was one of around 30 people to take part in the event in December 2016, which saw participants go on a bar crawl through the city centre, with some of them later having their heads shaved.
During the four-day inquest, coroner Karen Dilks heard how excess alcohol had caused Farmer to suffer a cardiac arrest, prompting brain damage and his eventual death at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
In her concluding remarks, Dilks said that Farmer had been “nervous” about attending the event and had to be carried to a Metro station as he was “extremely drunk”.
She added that a copy of her report would be made available to Newcastle University and its students’ union, as well as to Universities UK, the Department for Education, and the Department of Health.
Addressing the family, she said: “I extend my sincere condolences for your loss.”
Initiations have been widely banned at universities following incidents that saw the hospitalisation and deaths of a number of students.
In 2006, 18-year-old Gavin Britton died after attending a golf initiation ceremony at Exeter University, while Alex Doji choked on his vomit three years earlier at Staffordshire University.
However, despite the crackdown, initiations are still common at many universities.