At last, drink spiking awareness is becoming an issue for the mainstream media.
Founder and CEO of Stamp Out Spiking UK and StopTopps, Dawn Dines, was interviewed by the Guardian following the reporting of a recent upsurge in drink spiking incidents across the UK.
Bleak report
A bleak report in the Guardian tells us that ‘Data from Avon and Somerset police suggests that it has recorded 486 drink-spiking incidents since 2016, which led to 27 arrests, but no successful prosecutions.’
Unfortunately, these lack-lustre statistics are fairly representative of many police forces across the country.
Freedom Of Information
The article continues ‘a spokesperson for the force said that the figures, released under a freedom of information request, may not be “necessarily accurate” owing to the manner in which the data was gathered as it was based on a key-word search.’ This is most certainly true. We have applied for drink spiking data, using Freedom Of Information requests, to all the police forces in England and Wales and have received a wide range of responses – many telling us that they could not oblige because it would cost too much, due to the way crimes are recorded.
Specific Offence
Perhaps the most illuminating feedback we received was the fact that there is ‘no specific offence code’ for drink spiking. Currently, the police have to record drink spiking under other specific offence codes, such as ‘administering a noxious substance with intent….’
The consequence of this is that it makes it impossible to prove the true scale of this crime.
Nightclub chiefs
The Guardian report also tells us that ‘nightclub chiefs accused police of not vigorously pursuing drink-spiking prosecutions, demonstrating that even when evidence was passed to officers, cases collapsed’.
Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association stated ‘While the police are very much focused on what clubs need to do more, there are stories of clubs that have passed on evidence, kept cups and things, but these have not gone any further.’
Work together
Dawn Dines commented ‘While Stamp Out Spiking UK acknowledges that there are failings in some police procedures and even with the manner in which the Crown Prosecution Service decides whether or not to prosecute a crime, this is not the time to point the finger at the authorities. It is the drink spikers who are the criminals here and we all need to work together to bring them to justice.
It is vitally important to raise awareness of the crime, provide people with a means of protecting themselves and encourage victims to report it’