Drinking victim’s mother absolves friend

The mother of a man who died after playing the online drinking game NekNominate wept as she said he would still be alive if he had not taken part in the craze.

However, Melissa Richardson told the inquest into the death of her son Isaac, 20, that she did not blame the friend who had nominated him.

Richardson collapsed unconscious after downing a 1.5litre cocktail of alcohol at the hostel where he worked in Woolwich, south-east London, in February. He died later in hospital.