Ed Farmer, 20, died after the Agriculture Society initiation ceremony at Newcastle University that left him five times over the drink drive limit
A student died from alcohol poisoning after a booze-fuelled initiation ceremony left him five times over the drink drive limit, an inquest heard today.
Ed Farmer, 20, collapsed and died on the night out where two rounds of 100 triple vodkas were bought for a group of 40 students.
CCTV showed him being carried through a Metro station by friends.
Timing on the footage showed that students drank two or three trebles in seven minutes, the inquest heard.
Ed was taking part in the Agriculture Society initiation ceremony for first years organised by chairman James Carr.
Eyewitnesses claimed Ed had been terrified and trying to escape before he was taken to James' student digs where his head was shaved.
Blood tests suggested he had more than five times the legal limit at 400milligrams of alcohol per 100mls of blood. The legal limit for driving is 80mgs.
Ed's parents Jeremy and Helen, of Leicester, listened as James told the inquest how first year students were asked to turn up with a bottle of spirits for a pub crawl on December 12, 2016.
The initiation ceremony - banned by Newcastle Uni - involved a pub crawl, bar games and hair being shaved at the end of the night as they went through 'sheep's hurdles'.
Ed was among first years who went to James' digs where some students were asked to drink vodka from a pig's head, the inquest was told.
Some of the first years were too afraid to miss the ceremony after the invitation stated 'Be there!".
The pub crawl had started at the Three Bulls in the city centre at around 7.15pm.
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| Ed Farmer, 20, died from alcohol poisoning after the booze-fuelled initiation ceremony left him five times over drink drive limit |
Students invited on Facebook were told to bring "a 70cl bottle of hard spirit, some money, ID but not a student card, a Metro ticket, swimming goggles, a Kinder egg and some lubrication".
Second and third year 'Agric' students were encouraged to 'dish out drinks' to the first years, with the bottles of spirits handed out between venues.
James, 21, said 'undesirable food' such as chicken feet and raw potatoes were handed out to the first years in the course of the night out.
The money given by each student was used to buy drinks, with the two rounds of 100 Triple Vodka and Oranges bought at two bars.
First years drank 'two or three' at each venue in a matter of minutes before they were seen on CCTV heading to James' house in the Jesmond area of the city.
Ed so inebriated that he had to be carried along with another student at the Monument metro station, with the footage played to senior coroner for Newcastle Karen Dilks.
They had been told not to carry student ID, not to bring a phone, and not to wear any clothing associated with the university because initiation ceremonies were banned, the inquest heard.
The first years were asked to call over 'sheep hurdles', sections of fencing which make up a sheep pen, before having their hair shaved.
James recalled being woken at 4.30am in his house to be told that Ed had collapsed in the hallway, 'was blue and not breathing'.
Giving evidence, he broke down in tears as he recalled: "I jumped out bed and ran downstairs and Ed was not breathing.
"Tom Dorman and Alex Blott quickly helped me to get him into the car and we took him to hospital, and I drove to the RVI hospital.
"We unloaded him from the car and got him in there."
When asked by the coroner if he had thought of calling for an ambulance, he admitted that he was 'panicking', and had no first aid training.
He was taken for questioning by police about the incident, and then returned to the hospital, where Ed died on December 14, 2016, with his parents by his side.
James said that they had taken him from Jesmond metro station in a car to his home because he was not able to walk.
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| Ed was said to be 'terrified and trying to escape' during the initiation night out for the Agriculture Society at Newcastle University |
His hair was shaved, and he had earlier been seen 'terrified and trying to run away', the inquest heard.
Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton said the cause of death was a hypoxic brain injury caused because it had been starved of oxygen after his heart stopped.
That had been brought about by acute alcohol toxicity. "Ultimately I attribute his death to the intake of alcohol," she said.
Consultant Dr Benjamin Messer, clinical lead for the North East assisted ventilation service, estimated that his heart stopped for 30 minutes, such was his condition when he arrived at hospital.
Dr Reuben Saharia, the head of the accident and emergency team that treated Ed, said he had been admitted in a 'deeply unconscious state' at 5.06am on December 13.
Medical records showed that his friends had told doctors on duty that he has been 'unresponsive and blue' and had been snoring when he passed out, a sign that his body was struggling to deal with the alcohol intake.
"They were told he had drinking vodka," he said.
The hearing at Newcastle civic centre continues
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