UK 2017: Sip your water at court to prove it’s not acid
VISITORS who bring drinks to courts are being asked to sip them in front of officials for fear of acid attacks. The security clampdown comes amid fears that judges, jurors and witnesses could be targeted.
Lawyers, journalists and court staff are now required to prove that bottles of liquid they are carrying is not acid. The checks were enforced by the Ministry of Justice this week amid a surge of horrific attacks involving deadly chemicals.
It also comes after Home Secretary Amber Rudd called for tougher police stop and search powers to take acid off the streets. Writing in The Times yesterday, she said thugs caught with noxious liquids must ‘feel the full force of the law’.
Caustic fluid can be bought online or in shops for as little as £7 a litre. It is becoming a popular weapon for criminals, who hide the acid in bottles of soft drinks.
The new ‘sip and taste’ test is part of a package of enhanced security measures rolled out amid public outcry and calls for tougher legislation.
Officers, many of whom work for private companies such as G4S, are taking a no- nonsense approach, with children as young as three being asked to take a sip from their drink.
Staff at Newcastle Crown Court were yesterday asking visitors to take a quick sip from bottles of water, Coca- Cola and cups of takeaway tea and coffee.
‘Because of all the acid attacks we’re making everyone do it,’ a security guard said. ‘It applies to all courts in the country apparently, as far as I’m aware.’
A poster next to the metal detectors read: ‘Persons who arrive with plastic drink containers and open drink cans or cartons will have to undertake a “sip and taste” test to prove the contents are not prohibited.’
The checks were also in place at Cardiff Crown Court, where a security guard said: ‘It would be very easy to conceal in a plastic bottle, so when people come through and into the court we have to ask them to take a sip of their drink to prove that it isn’t acid. One family came into the court with a little boy who looked about three of four years old and was carrying a child’s beaker. We had to ask the parents to take a sip of the drink to prove it wasn’t acid but it was the little boy who took the sip of the drink.’
Staff at smaller magistrates’ courts are also asking visitors to test their own drinks.
Incidents of acid attacks have soared, with 455 logged by London’s Metropolitan Police last year alone – a 74 per cent rise on the previous year.
Although more than half of the UK’s acid attacks take place in the capital, areas such as the West Midlands and Essex have also seen large rises. Victims are left with appalling, life-changing injuries including disfiguring burns and blindness. The liquid can take the form of any highly corrosive substances, including drain cleaner and sulphuric acid.
The Metropolitan Police last month equipped officers with 1,000 kits to tackle the epidemic.
Patrol cars will carry five litre bottles of water to treat victims immediately.
A spokesman for HM Courts & Tribunals Service, part of the Ministry of Justice, said: ‘We take the safety and security of court users and staff extremely seriously, which is why we’re bringing in enhanced safety measures across the court estate. We keep our security procedures under constant review and will always take action where appropriate.’
‘Very easy to conceal’