Nightclub needle attack mystery
Authorities baffled by cases at clubs and concerts across Europe
The only thing similar is that people are being injected with a needle in a festive context in different places in France.
Police official
Across France, more than 300 people have reported being pricked out of the blue with needles at nightclubs or concerts in recent months.
Doctors and multiple prosecutors are on the case, but no one knows who is doing it or why, and whether the victims have been injected with drugs — or indeed any substance at all.
Club owners and police are trying to raise awareness, and a rapper even interrupted his recent show to warn concert-goers.
It’s not just France: Britain’s government is studying a spate of “needle spiking” there, and police in Belgium and the Netherlands are investigating scattered cases too.
On May 4, 18-year-old Tomas Laux attended a rap concert in Lille in northern France, where he smoked a bit of marijuana and drank some alcohol during the show.
When he came home, he was feeling dizzy and had a headache — and he spotted a strange little skin puncture on his arm. The next morning, the symptoms didn’t disappear and Laux went to his doctor. Medics confirmed evidence of a needle prick, and Laux was tested for HIV and hepatitis. His results came out negative, like those of other victims so far.
Hundreds of kilometres away, Leanne Desnos recounted a similar experience after going to a club in the southwest city of Bordeaux in April. Desnos, also 18, passed out the next day, and felt dizzy and had hot flashes. When she got home, she realised she had an injection mark on her arm and went to a clinic to get tested for infections. She is still awaiting results.
People from Paris, Toulouse, Nantes, Nancy, Rennes, and other cities around France have reported being pricked with a needle without their knowledge or permission.
The targeted individuals, who are mostly women, show visible marks of injection, often bruises, and report symptoms like feeling groggy.
France’s national police agency says 302 people have filed formal complaints about such needle pricks.
Several police investigations are ongoing in different regions, but no suspect has been arrested yet and the motive remains unclear.
“We didn’t find any drugs or substances or objective proof which attest to . . . administration of a substance with wrongful or criminal intent. What we fear the most is people contracting HIV, hepatitis or any infectious disease,” said Dr Emmanuel Puskarczyk, head of the poison control centre of the eastern French city of Nancy.
In the Nancy hospital, a special procedure has been created to optimise care. Patients who show symptoms like grogginess are treated, and blood and urine samples are kept for five days in case any want to press charges.
The police official said there weren’t any similarities between the cases.
“The only thing similar is that people are being injected with a needle in a festive context in different places in France.”
The French Interior Ministry launched a national awareness campaign this month.