Drug needle terror spreads across Britain
Spate of nightclub attacks on students
POLICE across the country have been alerted after students said they were stabbed with drugged needles in bars.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked forces to investigate after victims blacked out and later discovered painful ‘pin pricks’ on their bodies.
Women have come forward from the university cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Nottingham. Officers have been told to report any information about the trend to the Government so a plan of action can be drawn up.
Police officers in plain clothes are likely to be deployed in nightclubs in the wake of the incidents, Sarah Crew, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for rape and adult sexual offences, told MPs yesterday.
It comes as half of students say they know someone who has been drugged
‘The reports are disturbing’
on a night out – including having their drinks spiked. A survey for The Tab website found 12,000 of 23,000 people knew a victim, while at least 2,600 had been targeted themselves.
Nottingham University student Sarah Buckle, 19, became violently ill on a night out and later realised she had been injected because of pain in her hand and a pin prick.
Police Scotland is investigating reports of injection spikings in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.
Yvette Cooper, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said she had received a report of an injection ‘spiking’ but did not divulge the location.
One Edinburgh University student, who has not been named, fears she was given an injection at a club in the city where she did not have a drink.
A friend said: ‘She was pretty much sober and within half an hour she had completely lost her memory and she couldn’t walk.’
Edinburgh University student Molly Alba, 20, claimed she knows of four people who have been spiked since the start of term.
Journalist Lucy Ward also revealed her university student daughter and friends were wearing denim clothes to protect themselves because the material is harder to pierce with a needle.
A source close to Miss Patel said: ‘The Home Secretary has sent an informal request through the policing network for more details on this. We are very keen to assess how serious this issue is. The initial news reports seem extremely disturbing, and we need to find out the facts before deciding what action is necessary.’
Superintendent Kathryn Craner, of Nottinghamshire Police, confirmed there had been cases of women being drugged where ‘this has been associated with a pain or a mark on a part of their body, scratching sensation, and as though they have been physically spiked’.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We are aware of posts on social media about spiking incidents involving injections.
‘Officers are carrying out inquiries, and a small number of reports from the Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow and Aberdeen areas are being investigated. These do not appear to be linked.’
Stirling MSP Evelyn Tweed has written to Police Scotland following reports of spiking in the city.
The force said it had not received any reports of spiking by injection at any venue in the Stirling area.
Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Union of Students, said: ‘It’s absolutely disgusting. My rage, love and solidarity goes out to all those who have been impacted.’
The spiking incidents come amid alarm over drink spiking across the country. This has prompted groups from more than 30 universities to join a campaign calling for the boycott of nightclubs where safety measures are lax.
A petition to make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to search guests on entry, started last week, has already gained more than 120,000 signatures.
A spokesman for Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors, said: ‘The safety of students is of the utmost importance and universities are working together with local police forces, clubs and bars, and student unions to ensure they are fully aware of all risks to student safety.’