Lawyers are saying people who take part in the Neknominate web craze could face charges if it results in death.
One female student has been spotted necking a pint in her underwear in the University’s JB Morrell Library, whilst another undergraduate, Alcuin chair Lewis Ratto, also filmed himself downing a pint dressed as the college’s owl.
But now lawyers are saying that manslaughter charges could hit individuals who take part in the craze if it results in death.
20-year-old Bradley Earnes was found dead at his home in Nottingham earlier this month after drinking two pints of gin mixed with teabags as part of a nomination.
He became the fifth person to die, with four other deaths also being linked to the game.
Lawyer Julian Young told the Wales Online that people could leave themselves open to criminal charges if a Neknomination results in death.
“Any person would have to prove that the person who did the nomination knew with a degree of certainty what was likely to occur,” he said.
“At the beginning of this no-one knew what was going to happen. If a person knew, because of all the publicity and said, ‘I have been watching it on the news, I nominated my mate and thought he would be all right but knew there was a risk’ you could have grounds for a prosecution. It might be manslaughter.”
It comes as councils across England and Wales lobby social networking sites to introduce warnings over the deadly game.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents almost 400 councils, called for messages on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to warn about the dangers of the game.
YUSU Welfare and Community Officer George Offer said: “We need to accept that those who make nominations are putting people at risk by pressuring them to drink dangerous amounts and dissuading people from making nominations will make students safer.”