A 20-year-old Oxford student who died at key city bridge had allegedly been "ostracised" in the days before his death, the first day of an inquest has heard.
Alexander Rogers, a student at Corpus Christie College, sustained a severe head injury after falling into the River Thames.
On the first day of an inquest held at Oxford Coroner's Court on Tuesday, the court heard Mr Rogers had a "happy and sociable winter break and was looking forward to returning" to college, arriving on January 9.
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Another student with whom Mr Rogers had previously had a relationship alleged an incident occurred on January 11 which caused the college community, including his friends, to no longer speak to him, the inquest heard.
Mr Rogers was reported missing to police on January 15 by a concerned peer, and his body was recovered by fire and police crews that afternoon.
A moving statement from his family read out by the coroner said that for Mr Rogers, “the rational became the irrational, and he ended what could have been a beautiful life.”
The ostracization he faced in the days before his death were characterised by Dr Dominique Thompson, an independent consultant who investigated following the death, as a “pervasive cancel culture”.
She said unevidenced allegations against Mr Rogers caused a “pile-on” effect of students agreeing with others because of an “unwritten” moral imperative to “do the right thing”.
Dr Thompson that she was “shocked” on hearing evidence from students close to the incident, especially because Mr Rogers was described as an “upstanding” young man by those who knew him.
“It was shocking to hear that students were treating each other in this way, but I was not surprised by this pattern of behaviour,” she explained, due to the existence of “cancel culture” in society, on social media and even in schools.
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Professor Helen Moore, president of Corpus Christi College, said that the college is “deeply upset” and “regretful” that none of the issues were reported at the time they allegedly occurred, as the university would have been able to deal with them “with the mechanisms that were in place”.
“We have to create spaces where our young people can come to us with the conviction that we will listen and empathise with the issues that they are facing,” she said.
Professor Moore said that although the revelations in the report may be “shocking and painful,” the opportunities for learning they provide the college are “welcomed”, and recommendations made in it have been accepted.
Both the college and Mr Rogers’ family had counsel in attendance who asked questions of the two witnesses.
A third will take the stand today (November 6) before the area coroner, Mr Nicholas Graham, makes his conclusions.
The inquest continues.
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