They were given 30g – they should only have received 0.3g (Picture: PA)

Two students were left fighting for their lives after they were each given enough caffeine for 300 cups of coffee in a botched university science experiment.

Sports science students Alex Rossetto and Luke Parkin had volunteered to take part in the test at Northumbria University which aimed to measure the effect of caffeine on exercise.

But after a calculation error, the second year students were given 100 times the correct dosage, causing violent side-effects and them being admitted to hospital with ‘life- threatening reactions’ in March 2015.

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Prosecutor Adam Farrer told Newcastle Crown Court they should have been given 0.3g of caffeine, but were in fact given 30g. He said there is 0.1g in the average cup of coffee.




This led to them being admitted to an intensive care unit and both receiving dialysis.

‘It would be mixed with water and orange juice but they were erroneously given 30.7g and 32g of caffeine, which was 100 times the dosage they should have been given,’ he said.

He told the court that death has previously been reported after consumption of just 18g and the students were left in a ‘life-threatening condition’.

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Judge Edward Bindloss said the fact the students were in good physical shape probably helped their bodies cope with the enormous dose of caffeine.

Judge Bindloss said: ‘It was known excess caffeine was potentially fatal, it should have had high priority, risk assessments should have been carried out and appropriate checks put into place and appropriate training given.’

The university was fined £400,000 and ordered to pay £26,468 costs plus a £120 victim surcharge.

The judge said he was satisfied the university took the incident that ‘very seriously’ and fully cooperated with the HSE investigation and prosecution. The judge noted the presence of university executives in court and added:

‘I am fully satisfied they have acted appropriately and have shown genuine remorse for this incident.’

The university, which has more than 30,000 students and a budget of almost £250 million, had switched from using caffeine tablets to powder, which, the prosecutor said, meant supervision was vital.

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But he said: ‘The staff were not experienced or competent enough and they had never done it on their own before. The university took no steps to make sure the staff knew how to do it.’

The court was told about a catalogue of errors that led to the overdose, which Mr Farrer said ‘could easily have been fatal’.

This included the calculation being done on a mobile phone, the decimal point being put in the wrong place and there being no risk assessment for the test.

‘The failures to follow basic health and safety requirements were cumulative, persistent, long-standing and systemic,’ he said. ‘The university failed in its duty to ensure the safety of its students.’

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Mr Rossetto, who has gone on to study a Masters degree at the university, was kept in hospital for six days, reported short-term memory loss and lost 26.5lb (12kg) in weight.

Mr Parkin was treated for two days and lost 22lb (10kg) in weight.



Both men have since made a full physical recovery.

The university admitted the health and safety breach at a hearing at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court last month.

Peter Smith, defending, said vice chancellor Andrew Wathey was in court, along with other members of staff, as the human face of the university.

‘They are deeply sorry, genuinely sorry for the breach in this case,’ he said.

‘The university community is a close one and they wish to emphasise that they take the welfare of their students and staff seriously.’

Judge Edward Bindloss retired to consider his sentence, which he said he would give later on Wednesday afternoon.