Police hunt after clubber spiked in leg with needle

A STUDENT fears she was spiked in the leg with a syringe through her jeans on a night out clubbing with friends.

Zara Owen, 19, says she had not drunk much and was going to the bar before suffering total memory loss. She woke the next day in her own bed without a hangover but feeling ‘very confused’.

She said: ‘I was in a lot of pain – I had a shooting pain in my leg and was limping really heavily. I had no memory of the night at all. It’s like I wasn’t even there, which is obviously terrifying to look back on.’ Friends later confirmed they found Zara (pictured) in a fast food shop after she left Nottingham’s Pryzm, and they sent her home safely in an Uber.

When she got medical help, a doctor found a pinprick on her leg, backing her suspicion a needle had been used. Zara, studying French and Spanish at Nottingham university, added: ‘For me to have left the club by myself is completely out of character – it’s very dangerous.

‘I always go anywhere in a nightclub with someone – to the bar, to the toilet, anything. When you go into Pryzm, you go through a metal detector. It’s scary if something like this could happen.’

Zara says she has seen stories from other women believing they have been spiked by a syringe. She reported the incident to Nottinghamshire police.

Supt Kathryn Craner said a dedicated team of officers was going through CCTV after reports of spiked drinks at clubs and a man had been arrested. She added: ‘A small number of victims have disclosed a physical scratch-type sensation before feeling very unwell.

‘This is subtly different from feelings of intoxication through alcohol. We are actively investigating all these reports.’

Pryzm said: ‘We take all allegations of this nature seriously. We urge anyone who sees suspicious behaviour or suspects they have been a victim of spiking to seek assistance immediately from a memberof staff or security. We also encourage them to contact police.’