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19th Oct 2021

Police launch investigation after woman “spiked with needle” in UK nightclub

Sarah McKenna Barry

One woman claimed she had been injected after discovering a pinprick in her leg the next day.

Police in the UK are investigating reports of women being “spiked” with needles in nightclubs across the UK.

Metro reports that a number of women have reported incidents relating to needles in bars and clubs in Nottingham, Edinburgh, Dundee, Glasgow and Stirling.

Nottinghamshire Police have arrested a man in connection with one of the incidents, but he has since been released on bail.

Nadia Whittome, an MP for Nottingham East tweeted that she was “aware of extremely concerning reports of suspected spiking in Nottingham clubs”, and added that she is in contact with police regarding the issue.

One woman who has alleged that she was spiked with a needle is 19 year-old Zara Owen.

Taking to Twitter, she explained that she remembers entering a Nottingham nightclub, but cannot remember anything after that.

She wrote: “I woke up the next morning in my bed with almost zero recollection from that night (….) I woke up fine, no hangover or anything but a sharp agonising pain in my leg.”

Zara explained that her mother thought she might have pulled a muscle, but added that her memory loss was also very concerning.

“I had to go to campus and I realised I had a massive limp,” she continued. “If my memory was there I would’ve neglected this but this is a thing that never, ever happens to me and it really confused me.”

The young woman added that her friends filled her in on the night, and said that she wandered off and behaved uncharacteristically. Her housemate found her in a chicken shop opposite the nightclub and booked her a taxi to take her home.

Zara suspected that she had been spiked, and remembered hearing about a “new form of spiking” that involves perpetrators injecting victims with substances.

Upon finding a ‘”pinprick” in her leg, Zara was concerned that she had been spiked by injection.

She went on to say that she is “fine” and that the only side effect she suffered is memory loss.

She wrote: “Spiking is a dangerous but horribly frequent thing imposed onto girls and we are running out of ways to protect ourselves.”

Zara added: “This is by no means a post wanting sympathy, it is an awareness post. Stay in a group and please keep an eye out.”

If you have been affected by any of the details of this article, you can contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 77 8888.