The mother of a man who died after taking part in the NekNominate online drinking craze wept today as she told his inquest that he would still be alive if it were not for the game.

But Melissa Richardson, whose son Isaac collapsed after drinking at the hostel where he worked in Woolwich, south east London, on February 8, said she did not blame his friend who nominated him.

She told Southwark Coroner's Court: "We feel very strongly that it is no one's fault.

"He would not have wanted anyone to be singled out or blamed for something that was his decision.

"I don't blame his friend who nominated him or the friends who were with him that evening. It is a comfort to know that he was not alone."

But she added: "If it were not for this craze and his nomination, my son would still be alive."

Isaac, who was 20, grew up in Colchester and went to Colchester Royal Grammar School and the town's sixth form college.

Gazette:

The NekNominate game involves participants filming themselves downing alcohol, nominating someone to continue the game, and posting the video on Facebook.

It became an online craze earlier this year after originating in Australia and has seen players consuming alcohol with dog food, engine oil and live goldfish.

Mrs Richardson, of Tolleshunt Knights said in a statement referred to in court that the NekNominate craze had reached its peak at a time when her son had "too much idle time and too little focus in his life".

The inquest heard that Mr Richardson consumed an estimated 30 units of alcohol when he drank a 1.5-litre cocktail containing rose wine, vodka, beer and whiskey from a pitcher "in one go" in two minutes after asking a friend to film him on a smartphone.

He collapsed and fell unconscious minutes later and died at hospital in the early hours of February 9 despite the efforts of paramedics and people at the hostel to resuscitate him.

Pathology tests found he had drunk a "very high" amount of alcohol which was "within the range to induce a coma", the court heard.

Mr Richardson died of acute alcohol intoxication and coroner Dr Andrew Harris recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "Mr Richardson chose to accept a NekNominate challenge and drank about one and a half litres in about two minutes, shortly afterwards collapsing unconscious."

The court heard Mr Richardson, 20, was one of three people nominated on Facebook by his friend Ross Burton.

In a statement read by the coroner, Mr Burton said: "I confirm that at no point did I tell anyone what to drink. The first time I found out about the drinks Isaac had drunk was through the papers."

Detective Sergeant Roy Black said police determined that the death was not suspicious and no crime had been committed.

He said the nomination was made without any "pressure or force" and the coroner said in his verdict that there was "no question of any unlawful action".

Dr Harris praised Mrs Richardson's "courage and objectivity" in saying that she did not blame anyone for her son's death.

After delivering the verdict, he asked whether she had any suggestions about any further action on the potential risks of the NekNominate phenomenon.

She said: "It was my son's decision to do what he did. He would not want me to use him as an example."

Earlier, the court heard Mr Richardson was a former grammar school pupil of "great intellect".

He left school with "numerous As and Bs" but began to attend parties regularly and his mother said he was drinking heavily in the months before his death.

She said: "He worked really hard and played really hard. He would get silly drunk."

Fighting back tears, she told the court: "I did get fed up with him but we never fell out. It just wasn't in him to hold a grudge. "

She said Mr Richardson was "susceptible to a dare" but he was "never one swayed by others" and he could resist peer pressure.