A YORK student who plunged to his death from a 110ft crane after a day's drinking had been taking part in a dangerous and foolish prank, according to the York coroner, Donald Coverdale.

Joseph Crane died on December 13, two weeks before his 21st birthday, after climbing the crane with two friends early in the morning.

An inquest yesterday heard that Joseph, from Cornwall, had drunk at least the equivalent of 16 shots of whisky or eight pints of beer, but had not taken any drugs.

Andrew Stevens, one of the two friends who shared a house with Joseph at Ambrose Street, off Fulford Road, said he had met him at about 5pm on December 12.

Joseph, a student of electronic engineering and music technology, at York University had been drinking in the afternoon, probably a few pints of cider, he said.

The two of them, and two other friends, went for a meal at the Noor Restaurant, where Joseph drank six or seven bottles of strong lager. Then they went to the Arts Centre, where he carried on drinking.

The group of four walked home together and when they arrived at the KW Linfoot building site in Skeldergate, three of them decided to climb the crane. The fourth friend, who had not been drinking, went home.

There was a ladder inside the crane and Joseph climbed up first, then Andrew, then the third friend.

Andrew said the three of them had stopped on a platform nearly at the top, and then he and the other student had decided to climb down and Joseph said he would stay there a bit longer.

"When I got down to the bottom I looked up and for a few seconds saw Joseph climbing across the arm of the crane - he was not out of control and had got about half-way across. Then he was hanging by his hands. We shouted, telling him to hold on and then he fell."

Giving his verdict of accidental death, Mr Coverdale said that when Joseph was hanging from the arm, he was probably in a position where he could not recover.

"I have to say that by any standards this was a very foolish prank carried out by three young men who, I believe, were fuelled by a remarkably large quantity of alcohol," he said.

"Student pranks are all very well and we all know that alcohol can give a degree of Dutch courage, but I'm bound to say that these three men should have known better than to embark on this folly"

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