Deny, deny, deny: Revellers in ‘cover up’ bid

ORGANISERS of the drink-fuelled Agriculture Society event told each other to ‘deny, deny, deny’ before they were interviewed by police about Ed Farmer’s death, the coroner previously heard.

It was claimed the text messages were part of an attempted cover-up after officers launched an investigation.

In a pre-inquest review at Newcastle Coroner’s Court a year ago, Mr Farmer’s parents Jeremy and Helen raised concerns that key evidence might have been ignored. Their solicitor Simon Kernyckyj told coroner Karen Dilks: ‘There were text messages circulating after the incident which said “deny, deny, deny” before they were interviewed by police.

‘Although there were 20 to 30 first-year students at this gathering... there were only three first-years interviewed, and these were the people who were effectively the subject of this event. There appears to be a disproportionate interest in those who were running this event.’

After investigating Mr Farmer’s death, Northumbria Police found no criminal offences were committed.