A student was captured on CCTV struggling to stand hours before he died at a boozy university initiation ceremony.
Edward Farmer, from Leicestershire, had been taking part in an Agricultural Society ‘initiation’ event in December 2016, where he had up to 27 shots of vodka in less than three hours.
The 20-year-old, a Newcastle University Fresher, “died due to the toxic effects of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time”, according to an inquest.
Edward’s death sent shockwaves through the university, which has now banned initiation ceremonies, reports ChronicleLive .
The ceremonies are often carried out when freshers join a new society and usually involve drinking large quantities of alcohol.
At Newcastle University, most students ChronicleLive approached had heard about the Mr Farmer’s death, and have seen stories about the inquest over recent days.
All agree that it is shocking – one calls the story “terrifying”.
One man said his flatmate is a member of the Agricultural Society, the group which organised the initiation which ended in Mr Farmer’s death.
“They’ve all been warned about it,” he said.
Newcastle University officially bans initiations to its student societies.
The university website warns “anyone found to have organised or participated in an initiation ritual will be subject to disciplinary action”, saying the events encourage excessive drinking, force humiliating and degrading behavior, and may bring the institution into disrepute.