A young lady was spiked while out with pals at a Bristol nightclub.
The 22-year-old girl was at the Lizard Lounge on Queens Road, a famous hangout for students in the city’s south-west.
Detectives investigating the incident think the spiking occurred sometime before 3 a.m. on May 13. The woman’s reaction to the medicine was so severe that she had to be transported to the hospital for treatment. Avon and Somerset Police published two CCTV stills of males they wish to question about the incident, and they have subsequently been identified.
‘On Friday, May 13, at about 2.40am, a 22-year-old lady was spiked while out with friends at Lizard Lounge on Queens Road,’ a police spokeswoman said.
‘Her pals remained with her as she was transported to the hospital and eventually discharged.’
‘Following our previous appeal reporting an incident at the Lizard Lounge in Bristol, we have now identified the two men,’ a spokeswoman subsequently said.
According to a snap survey conducted by The Alcohol Education Trust last year, 15% of females, 7% of men, and 17% of those identifying as other had had their drink spiked.
The poll, which was online for a week beginning October 12 and had 747 answers, asked: ‘Do you believe you have ever had one of your beverages spiked?’, with 94 responding yes and 26 saying’maybe.’
‘Up until now, we have had significant verbal evidence of the extent of alcohol spiking and where it is going place as we engage with young people day in and day out throughout the UK,’ Helena Conibear, CEO of The Alcohol Education Trust, told MailOnline. This survey of 750 young people confirms all of the trends we have been hearing: the shocking fact that one in every eight young women has experienced spiking, that it occurs as frequently at private parties as it does in the nighttime economy, and that most people do not report spiking at the moment because they are afraid of being believed, are unsure exactly what happened, or believe it was too late by the time they realized.’
‘Because 50% of reported incidents of drink spiking were not followed up on, the lack of reporting is maybe not unexpected,’ she noted. If we are to combat alcohol spiking, we urge that everyone kindly report it to the venue, police, or A&E.
‘Keep the drink as proof and request a blood or urine test.’ To anybody who thinks it’s a joke to spike someone’s drink, we’d want to remind them that it’s a severe criminal offense punishable by up to ten years in jail, not to mention the often terrible impact it may have on victims’ life.’
While injection spiking remains a possibility, drink spiking is much more likely.
Drink spiking occurrences in the UK surged by 108% between 2015 and 2018, with 179 cases occurring in 2017.
This is merely the officially documented figure, it is likely to be considerably higher since individuals often do not disclose it to police.
‘Don’t take a drink from someone you don’t know, and if they’re accessible, use drink stoppers, which can be bought online, for the top of your bottle,’ says charity Drinkaware.
The most well-known ‘date-rape’ medicines are Rohypnol (or Roofie) and Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
Ecstasy, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), Ketamine, and other ‘party drugs’ are occasionally used to enhance alcoholic beverages.