The Northumbria University has been fined after “life-threatening” effects brought on by a school experiment were experienced by two students. The university issued a statement to the Newcastle Crown Court, saying that it was “deeply, genuinely sorry” for putting the students into such circumstances.
A fine of £400,000 was charged to Northumbria University after sports science students Alex Rossetta and Luke Parkin experienced violent side effects of an experiment gone wrong. The two were each asked to take in excessive amounts of caffeine equal to approximately 300 cups of coffee. After a “calculation error” occurred and violent side effects in Rossetta and Parkin came about, the students were taken into intensive care for dialysis.
As stated by prosecutor Adam Farrer to the court, the caffeine overdose could have immediately been a fatal incident. In response, defendant Peter Smith said Northumbria University sought to underline that it takes the “welfare of their students and staff seriously".
In March 2015, Rossetta and Parkin’s participation in the experiment was voluntary. The study aimed to measure the effects of caffeine on exercise. According to Farrer, the students were given at least 30 grams of caffeine, which was supposed to be 0.3 grams. He further pointed out that a previous death was already recorded after an individual consumed only 18 grams of caffeine. Northumbria University had then changed from caffeine tablets to it powder form.
"The staff were not experienced or competent enough and they had never done it on their own before," he said, while adding: "The university took no steps to make sure the staff knew how to do it."
During the experiment, a mobile phone was used for the calculation, and the decimal point was positioned in the wrong place. No risk assessment was made. While both students had already physically recovered, Rossetta reportedly suffered short-term memory loss.
