Student caffeine tablet suicide

The student was doing well on his chemistry course at Cardiff

A south Wales chemistry student who killed himself by overdosing on caffeine may have been lying dead in his flat for six days before being discovered.

An inquest in Cardiff heard that James Christopher Bird, 20, was last seen alive by his friend David Semp at Cardiff University's Talybont halls of residence on 24 January.

Sergeant Warren Poole said a receipt revealed that hours later the first-year student bought four boxes of the over-the-counter stimulant Pro Plus at a local supermarket.

Phone ringing

His friends thought he had gone home to visit his family in Hereford for the weekend.

They became concerned when they had not seen him for several days, but heard his mobile phone ringing unanswered in his room.

David Semp contacted security staff on 31 January at the halls and Mr Bird's body was found on the bed in a decomposed state.

Sgt Poole told the inquest that several handwritten notes were found in the room.

Website research

One of the notes showed calculations working out how much caffeine would be needed to kill someone.

A search of Mr Bird's computer also found that he had been looking at websites about caffeine on the internet.

One note stated: "It is not having too much effect." Another said: "I want to die."

Despite a comprehensive investigation, no reasons were found for Mr Bird to take his own life.

Cause of death

He had been doing well in his course and was scoring especially highly in the forensic chemistry module.

Pathologist Dr Alan Gibbs told the inquest that the cause of death was overdose of caffeine.

A total of 150mgs of caffeine was found in 100mls of blood - enough in Dr Gibbs's view, to cause death.

Recording a verdict of suicide, Cardiff and Vale coroner Dr Lawrence Addicott said that while James had wished to die, there did not seem to be a clear reason why.