Five young adults were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a correctional court on Friday. The case concerned the 2018 death of Axel Leroy, a student who died after choking on his own vomit during a bar crawl in Liège's "Le Carré" quarter.
Leroy passed away after participating in a student hazing ritual, which is prevalent at Belgian universities. The student, originally from the municipality of Spa, went on a pub crawl in the district with his "godfathers," who are in charge of organising student circle events.
While Leroy drank alcoholic beverages from bar to bar, his "godfathers" drank water and soft drinks. Surveillance cameras also caught them encouraging Leroy to drink more despite the fact that he was already heavily intoxicated. At around 02:37, he collapsed on Boulevard de la Sauvenière and died after choking on his own vomit and thereby depriving his brain of oxygen.
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As a result, a case was opened into his death. The five organisers of the activity were sentenced to 75 hours of community service each and must pay €20,000 to each of Leroy's parents.
Leroy's death is another reminder of the fatal risk that can occur during Belgium's student hazing rituals. In the same year, 20-year-old Sanda Dia died from salt poisoning in Flanders after being forced to drink fish oil.
