Thread by @theipaper

Drink and drug spiking reports to UK police forces have risen by 50% in 4 years but very few cases have led to criminal action

🔴EXCLUSIVE from @amyrwalker

Data obtained by i from 15 police forces shows that only a tiny fraction of spiking-related crimes led to a suspect being charged between 2018 and last month

inews.co.uk/news/spiking-u…

i carried out Freedom of Information requests which show:

🔴3,625 spiking-related incidents were reported to 15 police forces across the UK

📅Between 1 January 2018 and 3 November 2021

i data showed:

📈There was a 54% rise in spiking-related incidents from 2018 when there was 828 reports to 2021 when there were 1,271

🚔3,161 of the spiking reports went on to be treated as crimes

📈Just 44 people were charged with offences and 15 received cautions

❓What happened to other reports?

In many cases (1,268) no suspect was identified, or where a suspect was identified, police experienced other evidential difficulties (360)

i submitted a FOI request to every police force in the UK but only 15 responded

❓Why is it difficult to secure convictions for spiking?

🔴Identifying credible witnesses within party and nightclub environments

🔴Obtaining urine and blood samples within a timeframe

🔴Date rape drugs are only detectable for a finite amount of time

inews.co.uk/news/spiking-u…

🚓The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) urged victims to report spikings to police “as quickly as possible” to ensure tests could be carried out and evidence could be gathered

Read more here: inews.co.uk/news/spiking-u…