West Midlands Police investigate spiking incidents in Birmingham

West Midlands Police is currently investigating a report of a woman being ‘spiked by injection’.

The force confirmed it had received one report where the circumstances appear to match the description of someone being spiked by injection - although the force said ‘it’s unclear exactly what’s happened and officers are trying to speak to the woman following the incident’.

A separate drink spiking incident involving a Birmingham-based university student is also under investigation, with police receiving a ‘small number’ of reports from Birmingham city centre over the last few months.

Police across the UK are responding to rising reports of women being spiked via injection in nightclubs, and campaigners are in the process of organising boycotts of nightclubs in the UK amid calls for tighter safety measures against spiking.

What is spiking by injection?

Spiking by injection describes the act of one person spiking another, but instead of placing a pill in a drink, it is done through the use of a needle.

Spiking by injection carries extra risks as unclean or shared needles pose threats of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

Spiking by injection symptoms are similar to that of being spiked via a pill in a drink.

A petition, titled “Make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry”, has collected nearly 155,000 signatures on the Parliament Petition website.

The petition states: “I would like the UK Government to make it law that nightclubs must search guests on arrival to prevent harmful weapons and other items entering the establishment.

“This could be a pat down search or metal detector, but must involve measures being put in place to ensure the safety of the public.

“There are too many cases of weapons and ‘date rape’ drugs being used in clubs. It begs the question, why aren’t nightclubs required to do more to prevent harmful items making it into their clubs?”

Since the petition has more than 10,000 signatures, the Government is required to respond to it - and since it has over 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

What have West Midlands Police said?

A statement from West Midlands police read: “We’re aware of posts circulating on social media about drink spiking, particularly those involving injections.

“At present we’ve had one report where the circumstances appear to match the description of someone being spiked by injection. However, it’s unclear exactly what’s happened and we’re in the process of trying to speak to the woman to gather more information.

A separate drink spiking incident involving a Birmingham-based university student is under investigation, and we’ve had a small number of reports from Birmingham city centre over the last few months.

“We know that lots of people are posting about their experiences online and we’d encourage them to contact us to let us know what’s happened. We are taking all reports seriously and would encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of spiking in any form to contact us via Live Chat at www.west-midlands.police.uk 8am – midnight, or call 101 anytime. To remain 100% anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“We continue to run perpetrator-focused operations, looking to identify suspicious behaviour and prevent a wide range of offences from happening. We’re working with door staff, venues and Street Wardens. If you’re out in the West Midlands and you see anything that concerns you – let someone know, or call us on 999.”

Please visit Drink Aware for advice and information on the symptoms of drink spiking, and what to do if you think someone has been spiked.

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