NEARLY seven million unsuspecting Brits have had drugs slipped into their drink as “spiking” hits epidemic levels.
Children as young as 11 have even been targeted and holidaymakers heading to Europe are being warned to stay alert to the dangers.
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This Morning presenter Ashley James fears she has had mystery narcotics sneaked into her drinks “multiple times” when out socialising.
Today, as a Sun on Sunday probe reveals spiking is reaching new heights, the 38-year-old star said: “I have suspected that I’ve been spiked multiple times during my university days and also when I’ve been out in London at various times.
“Having spent a lot of time in nightlife spaces — especially working as a DJ — I’ve sadly seen just how common spiking still is.
“Several of my close friends have had their drinks spiked, both in the UK and abroad, and there’s lots of cases where boys are spiked for pranks.
READ MORE ON DRINK SPIKING
Terrifying trend
“It seems like everyone, including myself, has either been spiked or knows someone who has.
“I want to raise awareness, especially as we’re going into festival season and summer and people are out in beer gardens and so on.”
Victims have been spiked before being sexually assaulted or robbed, and recent cases have shown that some people are also drugging others for a “joke”.
Latest figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council show there were 6,732 recorded spiking cases in the 12 months to April 2023, including 957 reports of needle spiking, which involves victims being injected with drugs.
Freedom of Information requests also show constabularies across the country are dealing with more cases than ever.
Children as young as 11 are even being targeted with drugs including ketamine, Rohypnol, MDMA and gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB).
Greater Manchester Police recorded 463 spiking incidents last year, compared to 128 in 2019. Some 78 victims were aged 16 to 18, and 14 were between 11 and 15 years old.
Meanwhile, West Midlands Police logged 183 suspected incidents against women last year, compared to 25 in 2020. There were 105 reported involving male victims.
And in West Yorks, cops had reports of 444 drink spiking incidents last year, compared to 143 in 2019.
Ashley is raising awareness alongside campaign group CounterSpike.
They have created a SpikeStixx kit, which allows people to test their drinks for a range of drugs.
The TV host says she would never now “accept drinks from strangers” or leave her glass unattended.
Some 6.6million people — around one in ten of the population — are believed to have been spiked at some point, according to CounterSpike research.
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Yet 90 per cent of cases go unreported, according to Drinkaware and Anglia Ruskin University.
Drink spiking is the most common method, but drugs have also been added to vapes and food.
And a terrifying new trend called needle spiking has emerged in recent years.
More than 140 people reported being jabbed at France’s Fete de La Musique festival last month. Police, who made a number of arrests, did not say at the time if it was needle-spiking.
Some 80 per cent of spikings take place in public spaces, including bars, clubs and festivals.
Mum-of-one Cara Sayer was at a singles night at a bar in Esher, Surrey, in 2021 when she was spiked.
The 53-year-old, who runs her own company, SnoozeShade, said: “I went with a girlfriend. I had to be up early the next day so didn’t drink excessively.
“My last coherent memory was my friend leaving at 9.45pm. After that, I vaguely remember wobbling around the dance floor.
Spiking is a big concern and it’s driven by accessibility to cheap drugs, which is why we are seeing cases involving children.
Tory MP Joe Robertson
“Not dancing, but stumbling and trying to stay on my feet. I was found unconscious in the toilet surrounded by my own sick.
“An ambulance was called and they were the first to mention spiking. They said my eyes looked dilated and a bit funny. But when I called the police, they made me feel like it was my fault.
“It took away any element of control and that was terrifying.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in November that tampering with someone’s drink is set to become a specific crime.
It is currently prosecuted under seven different laws. To bring charges, cops must have evidence of the substance, a suspect, and CCTV footage of them spiking the victim or a credible eyewitness.
Police dealt with in 2023, only six per cent ended in an arrest.
But there have been some successful prosecutions.
In May, Paige Myer, from Northumberland, received a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, after she was convicted at Newcastle crown court of “administering a poison”.
She was in a pub when she spiked a woman with amyl nitrite, known as poppers, for a “joke”.
‘Took away control’
And in January, Vikas Nath, 61 — a director of the Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Benares — was charged with administering a substance with intent of overpowering a woman for sexual activity. He denies the claim and is due to stand trial next year.
Tory MP Joe Robertson said: “Spiking is a big concern and it’s driven by accessibility to cheap drugs, which is why we are seeing cases involving children.
“I’m worried it’s on the rise and it’s really hard to prosecute.”
The Foreign Office warned Brits to be vigilant abroad after spikings in hotspots including Benidorm, Magaluf and Malta.
Colin Mackie, who founded charity Spike Aware after his son Greg, 18, died from a suspected spiking in 2017, said: “Recently, we were contacted by an 82-year-old man who was spiked and robbed on holiday in Spain.
He was walking down the strip when two girls said, ‘Come to our pub for our complimentary drink and to watch the football’.
“One brought him a beer. The next thing he knows he’s on the floor.
“He was taken to hospital and it turned out he’d been spiked and, three days later, he noticed one of his credit cards had gone missing.
“When he went to check, £2,500 had been taken out of his account.”
Colin also revealed he had been contacted by the parents of an 11-year-old from Liverpool whose life changed after he was spiked.
He said: “His so-called friends put ketamine in his Lucozade, for fun, to make him look silly.
“He was sick and it affected him mentally. He became aggressive and resentful and he didn’t want to go to school any more.”
