Science student, 24, died of caffeine overdose after researching lethal levels – Metro.co.uk

A science student took her own life with a fatal amount of caffeine powder after using her knowledge to study the stimulant, a coroner has ruled.

Sophia Benning, 24, a student at Salford University, was found in her room on 19 March, 2019, with almost three times the lethal amount of caffeine in her system.

Coroner Alan Walsh said Sophia’s was the first death from caffeine toxicity he had heard in over 18 years in his position.

The inquest heard Sophia had been battling depression and bought the stimulant on eBay after she posted a number of messages on Reddit indicating she wanted to take her own life.

Mr Walsh paid tribute to Sophia who has since been awarded a posthumous first class degree.

He said: ‘Sophia was a very bright and super intelligent young lady with a supportive family who did well on her uni course and she had a lot of support from the people in her flat.’

The hearing in Bolton was told Sophia, from Telford in Shropshire, had Asperger’s Syndrome but ‘took it in her stride’ and gained high marks in her studies.

Her father Jimmy Singh told the hearing: ‘She was coping really well with it and she was in the top of her year.

‘She would have got a first and there wasn’t any academic problem. At the graduation ceremony last week they made a posthumous certificate for her.’

In the weeks before her death, her family were worried when she stopped responding to messages and her boyfriend alerted them to her Reddit posts.

Sophie’s sister Sarah took her to hospital a day before her death, on 18 March, and her family said she was in good spirits.

Mr Singh added: ‘She was laughing about how difficult it was to park and how they couldn’t find a parking space near the Accident and Emergency unit.

‘If she said anything about ending her life, she would say: “It’d be better off if I’m dead” but it was sort of off-the-cuff.

‘We weren’t aware of any attempt she made to harm herself.’

Sophia was discharged from hospital and advised to see her GP, the hearing heard.

She spoke to a mental health nurse for an hour but refused to speak about what she had ordered online.

The family found out after Sophia’s death that she had bought caffeine powder – which can be toxic when taken in excess.

Mr Singh said his daughter ‘would have researched’ the level needed to make the powder toxic as ‘there were no warning signs’ or suggestion of a dosage on the packet she ordered.

Recording a verdict of suicide, the coroner said: ‘It’s something to be credited as she received a first class degree posthumously at the graduation last week that tells me she was super intelligent and she was capable of researching subjects including caffeine.

‘Those message she’s logged on Reddit were very clear yet she was extremely capable of covering her intentions. On March 18 she was laughing about parking a car and laughing with her sister and parents.

‘She covered everything [in the Reddit posts] that must have been in her thoughts and it’s quite astonishing she had the intentions able to carry with these inner thoughts.’