The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Suspect spiking ordeal Hits family
An Angus dad has spoken of the terrifying moment he thought his son had collapsed and died after a suspected spiking incident.
Kieran Martin, 19, who does not take drugs, was out with friends in Arbroath when he became disorientated and sick.
After being taken home to Carnoustie by concerned police, dad Chris said his son became frantic and was hyperventilating.
While trying to calm him down, he says the distressed teenager suddenly collapsed and banged his head, knocking himself unconscious.
Describing the moment, Chris, his voice trembling with emotion, said he took hold of Kieran’s limp body, fearing the worst.
He said: “He was sitting on a chair at the table, I was just trying to calm him down, speaking to him, seeing what was going on, to find out what’s happened.
“Then, all of a sudden, his mind just went, his eyes rolled and he just folded in half over the table and his head hit the floor, and his body followed.
“So I grabbed him and I actually thought I’d lost him then.”
The keen footballer was rushed to Ninewells Hospital and thankfully made a full recovery.
The situation unfolded after Kieran had visited Arbroath nightclub De Vito’s just after 11pm on Saturday, at which point he said he felt “fine”.
However, later in the evening Kieran became unwell and, concerned for his safety, police decided to drive him home.
The joinery and carpentry student says he has little memory of the terrifying events but remembers being sick outside the venue and being in a police van.
“I don’t remember much, really,” he said.
“It was weird. I kind of felt like I was out of my body. I don’t really know how to describe it, it’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before.
“It kind of felt like I was floating about. Like outside my own body. I can’t really remember anything else.”
Someone close to the family died following an incident with drugs and, as such, Kieran does not take them recreationally.
Dad Chris, 42, a computer engineer who repairs mobile phones, said he got a call around 2.55am from police saying Kieran was unwell and they were taking him home.
Chris said: “When he came in here, he was punching doors and punching the table because he was freaking out.
“He was going mental, trying to explain that he didn’t know what was going on.
“When it comes to drugs, if you’ve taken something and you know what’s going to happen, it’s probably easier for your body and brain to cope with it.
“Kieran doesn’t take drugs, so he was freaking out about that.”
Following his collapse, they were told an ambulance would take up to 50 minutes to arrive, with Chris deciding to drive himself while on the phone to NHS 24.
“On the way through in the car, Kieran was just out of it,” he said.
“He doesn’t remember anything much of the car journey. I don’t think the bang to the head was anything to do with that – I think it was purely the drugs.”
Mum Samantha, 37, who looks after the couple’s other children Ryan, 14, and nine-year-old Kaiden, said: “I just think it’s ridiculous that teenagers can’t go out and enjoy themselves without horrible people doing horrible things.
“I do wonder if he’s picked up the wrong drink and it’s belonged to someone who was ‘deliberately’ spiked.
“We don’t know, but we can’t think who would do that to Kieran because he has no enemies.
“He was saying unusual things. He said I was ‘driving a f ****** rollercoaster’ – and he doesn’t swear in front of us.
“He also said he was ‘tasting colours and smelling shapes’. It came in waves of him being well enough to make a comment like that and then the next second he was freaking out again.
“You wouldn’t wish that on your worst enemy, to see the way he was acting.
“He freaked out more because I think he knew he wasn’t in control of his own body.
“Seeing him like that and not being able to help him, that was the worst part.”
Chris said he had spoken to friends, including a nurse, who thinks it was the drug ketamine Kieran was given.
The powerful anaesthetic can leave people feeling anxious and confused, as well as suffering from hallucinations, nausea and memory loss.
Chris said: “My friends that I’ve spoken to, they reckon it was ketamine. A few people reckon it could have been rohypnol.”
Often thought of as a “date rape” drug used to target women, Chris researched and read reports that rohypnol is used on men as well, more often so they can be stolen from, as the tranquillizer takes effect.
Kieran said: “I’ve got no idea at all why someone would try and drug me.”
Chris said the incident had a profound effect on him.
While he is now over the shock, on Sunday night he said he pulled over into a lay-by and burst into tears, as he thought about how serious the scenario could have turned out to be.
“I’m not looking for sympathy,” Chris added.
“It’s to make people aware and warn them.
“I was sceptical of these recent reports of people being jabbed by needles, I didn’t think that could be happening up and down the country so quickly.
“I think the message I’d want to put out there is to be careful of where you are, who you’re with and what you’re doing.”
The family said they had not spoken to the management of De Vito’s, but club bosses are aware that someone had taken ill through an apparent spiking of a drink.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers are conducting inquiries to establish if there has been any criminality.”
De Vito’s owner could not be reached for comment.