Needle panics
The recent coverage of the alleged incidents of needle spiking in the national media certainly paints a picture of an emerging moral panic. This was given an added air of seriousness by additional reports that emerged soon after. In the days and weeks following the initial reports from Nottingham and elsewhere, further claims surfaced on social media (a potentially telling detail) that added more sinister aspects and certainly featured aspects that begin to lend an ‘urban legend’ vibe to the wider story.
Unsubstantiated claims emerged that went something along the lines of: a female nightclubber reported feeling unwell and seemed disoriented and distressed with the suggestion that she had been spiked, at which point a group of individuals, apparently with a female as a ‘leader’, attempted to lure the distressed female away from her friendship group and accused her of being drunk and calling her a ‘cry baby’. The story then goes that the friends of the victim managed to get her to a hospital. The sting in the tail of the story is that the victim awoke in hospital hours later, being treated for the effects of a substance being administered, a visible needle mark on her arm or leg and a metal ring on her finger, engraved with the words ‘cry baby’. The implication appears to be that, at some point during the turn of events, the ring was slipped onto her finger as a means of ‘tagging’ or ‘marking’ her, allegedly by those responsible for her condition.
As mentioned above, these claims seem to have largely been distributed through social media and online forums, and have consequently had a wide reach amongst students and residents of the cities where cases of alleged needle spiking have been reported. The fact that there appears to be no coverage of this in the wider press and no wider investigation by the police forces already looking into the pre-existing claims certainly suggests a proto-urban legend in development, perhaps designed to prey on fears associated with public safety amongst a younger populace already on edge following the pandemic and wary of their own wellbeing in the wake of other high-profile cases.
I don’t intend to belittle or discredit the claims of the victims who were, undoubtedly, distressed by their experiences, whether or not these experiences were the result of malicious activity. Certainly the claims should be investigated and any guilty individuals brought to justice, but there is more than just a public safety issue here. The social context of such attacks cannot be ignored. As with the Halifax Slasher, London Monster and Spring-heeled Jack phenomena, the aim of these incidents is to spread fear and hysteria at a time of socio-economic upheaval.
Aaron Bulley
By email