Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Nightclub shuts amid boycott sparked by drink-spiking hike
City venue closes for evening to show support for national campaign
Canterbury’s biggest nightclub stayed shut last night during a boycott of bars and venues sparked by a recent increase in drink-spiking.
The national campaign - called Night In - was launched following claims there is a “lack of concern being show by local clubs and the government” following a reported spate of revellers being drugged.
Club Chemistry in Station Road East - which itself found itself embroiled in claims a woman had been spiked earlier this month - says it voluntarily shut last night to show solidarity with the campaign.
It instead used the evening to retrain staff on vigilance and dealing with cases of suspected spiking.
Club boss Matthew Jones-roberts, who is also a city councillor, said: “No one wants people to be spiked at all.
“It’s going to take a collective effort as a society, and with the venues and the authorities involved, to make sure we try and eradicate it completely.”
Mr Jones-roberts says his staff try to prevent incidents by searching guests as they arrive, sometimes with sniffer dogs and also with metal detectors.
“In the venue staff try to be vigilant in looking out for people that might have sinister intentions,” he added.
“It’s going to be a real community effort here.
“Venues don’t want spiking to occur and we spend hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds every year to try and stop measures that people may take to interrupt someone’s night.”
The city nightclub confirmed earlier this month it was implementing changes to increase safety after a woman in her 20s was reportedly drugged - which police are investigating.
Police are investigating the incident, in which the woman became “unwell and disoriented” during a night out on October 5 and was taken to hospital.
The national boycott had originally been called Girls Night In, but organisers were forced to change its names following complaints it was “not inclusive enough”.
The city’s campaign was instead renamed Canterbury Night In.
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