An Oxford Brookes student died after slipping as he tried to jump over metal railings near his halls of residence.

Suhith Mahendra, 23, was on his way back from Cowley Road with friend Theo Pemberton in the early hours of May 19 when he attempted to take the well-trodden shortcut over the fence from Cuckoo Lane, off Marston Road, to the Clive Booth halls of residence.

The international student, who had come to Oxford from India in September 2020, was the second to attempt the leap over the spiked railings – his friend Mr Pemberton being the first to jump over the fence. It had been a wet night, Oxford Coroner’s Court heard.

“We had used these cut-throughs hundreds of times before,” he said in a statement read to the inquest by assistant coroner Nicholas Graham.

Mr Pemberton, who had spent the evening with his friend at his student halls before going to Cowley Road after 2am to ‘see who was there’ and get some food, described Mr Mahedra as a ‘brilliant friend, kind, sweet and generous’.

The friend said he had used his phone as a torch to light the way as Mr Mahendra climbed over the railings. “He had his left leg on a metal post to put himself up. It was then that his foot slipped on the fence.”

He could see his friend was wounded from where he had impaled himself on the railings. The former lifeguard and trained first-aider called an ambulance, although his phone soon ran out of power, and began performing CPR.

The friend suggested it was around 25 minutes before the ambulance arrived, although no detail was given to the inquest about when South Central Ambulance Service was first called and when paramedics turned up.

A number of security guards and a warden, Fraser Bonar, were also called to the scene. One of the guards, Asim Mohammed said that he had heard someone screaming: “My friend has died. Please don’t die.”

When paramedics arrived they took over chest compressions and removed Mr Mahendra from the railings.

PC Leah Pullen, who was one of the police officers called to the scene, said there were ‘around 20 NHS professionals’ waiting for the patient at the John Radcliffe Hospital A&E. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead at 5.25am that morning.

Pathologist Prof Ian Roberts, who ruled the primary cause of death to be traumatic aortic rupture, caused by a cut to the major blood vessel.

A statement from DC Claire Scanlon concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances and no evidence of third party involvement in Mr Mahendra’s death. It had been a ‘tragic accident’, the Thames Valley Police detective said.

Members of Mr Mahendra’s family, many of whom attended over video link, questioned the amount of time it had taken the ambulance to arrive and whether the student may have survived had he been taken to hospital sooner.

The coroner said: “It’s difficult to speculate on that. There’s no comment in the post mortem report that suggests that any earlier or quicker conveyance to the hospital would have made any difference.”

Mr Graham ruled a conclusion of accidental death. He expressed his condolences to Mr Mahendra’s family.

For support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward