Students to boycott clubs amid reports of injection spiking

Emma MacDonald, 21, is one of several women across the UK who have recently come forward detailing similar experiences with some saying their drinks have been spiked while others claim they were injected.

She told Channel 4 News she is “still in shock” and says the thought of someone injecting her is “disgusting” and “scary”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked police chiefs  for an update on the spiking reports, while one man in Nottingham has been arrested and released on bail following an incident there.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said they were aware of posts on social media about “spiking incidents involving injections” and a “small number of reports from the Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow areas are being investigated”.

“Disgusting”

Emma told this programme she was on a night out with friends and had only had three drinks, after this she has no memory of events.

The next morning she noticed a bruise on her body which looked “like a scar with a pinpoint in the middle”.

She has spoken to her doctor and is due to go for blood tests but she believes was spiked with an injection.

“I’m honestly still in shock. It’s disgusting,” she said. “It’s really, really shocking that people think that they should go on nights out and that their intention is to harm.”

Emma added that she believed “more thorough searching” is needed at venues to prevent similar incidents.

A petition calling for the government to consider mandating similar measures has more than 130,000 signatures.

Students at the University of Edinburgh set up a group called Girls Night In after several students there reported spiking incidents.

The group have written an open letter to clubs in the city saying they plan to boycott all venues on 28 October out of “fear and anger regarding our health and safety”.

Similar groups have appeared in other British universities, with women there also planning to boycott clubs.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said the incidents they are investigating “do not appear to be linked”, adding: “We take all reports seriously and we would encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of spiking in any form to contact Police via 101.”