7 October 2008 293 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

A young undergraduate student who downed half a litre of vodka in just 20 minutes was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning. Jason Venezia, 19, was promised £40 if he could drink a large amount of vodka at a rate of one shot every 45 seconds.

The first-year psychology student, studying at Warwick University, was put to bed by friends after he could not stand or speak from attempting the task. Venezia was found dead the following afternoon. An inquest heard he was almost six times the legal drive limit when he was later examined. The Coventry inquest heard the pair, a male and female, checked on him every 15 minutes for two hours because they were worried he could choke on his own vomit.

Yesterday, his parents, Ennio and Joan, condemned the university binge-drinking culture and called for the legal age for drinking to be raised from 18 to 21. Whilst the couple did not blame anyone for their son’s death, they feel “there is an issue surrounding the heavy drinking culture within university life which needs to be addressed”.

The event unfolded last May when Mr Venezia had been drinking with two friends. After consuming around a quarter bottle of vodka and visiting a bar for more shots of the spirit, Mr Venezia’s friends each offered him £20 if he could finish the rest of the bottle.

Sean McGovern, the Coventry and Warwickshire coroner, said Jason had died from the misuse of alcohol and recorded a verdict of misadventure. Mr McGovern hoped Jason’s death would change the attitude amongst the youth of today towards heavy drinking and stop similar tragedies occuring in the future. “All we can do is hope to some extent that lessons will be learned from this death,” he said.