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Spiked is a 2021 American drama film written and directed by Juan Martinez Vera and starring Aidan Quinn. [3] It is inspired by events in the life of Arizona-based newspaper publisher Joseph Soldwedel, who serves as an executive producer.
When the murder of a migrant worker shakes a southwest border town to its core, the feud between a newspaper owner and the chief of police leads to the blurring of the truth and a dirty fight for justice.
- (146)
- Drama
- Juan Martinez Vera
2 days ago · The new five-part legal drama - which first aired in 2021 - features Sherwood star Akheel Aktar and is made by the producers of Line of Duty. ... but Justin feared what would happen to him and his ...
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- Foreword - Laura Farris MP, Minister for Victims and Safeguarding
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Understanding Spiking
- Chapter 2: Tackling spiking
- Chapter 3: What further action will Government and others take to continue to tackle this issue?
- Annex: Existing Legal Framework
Spiking is an insidious and violating crime, catching its victims off-guard and often leaving them with little recall of what happened beyond the fact that they have been a victim of crime and in the worst instances, horrendous secondary offences.
In Autumn 2021, the police recorded an increase in spiking incidents, both drink spiking and a new phenomenon of needle spiking. The greatest number of incidents occurred in university towns, coinciding with Freshers’ Week and students returning to higher education following lockdown. Following the peak in Autumn 2021, the number of spiking incidents has progressively decreased. However we recognise that not all incidents of spiking are reported to the police and that true levels may be somewhat higher than current data suggests. That is why Government is taking action to tackle this crime.
Spiking can be traumatic and have long-lasting effects. For the predominantly female victims there is not only the immediate risk to their physical health, but also the shock and distress at having been targeted; the concern about going out socially in future; and, in cases of needle-facilitated spiking, the ongoing worry around testing for blood-borne diseases. We have heard of people saying spiking is being done “for a laugh” or a bit of fun – let me say now: it isn’t.
My ministerial colleagues and I have listened to victims and worked closely with the police on the nature of this threat. Whilst the offence is nominally covered by existing laws, this comprises a patchwork of different laws – some now well over a hundred years old - which were drafted to cover other kinds of offending. We consider there to be a strong case for amending the law to delineate the nature and threat of spiking and, we hope, to improve public awareness and encourage victims to come forward.
Alongside legislative amendments we bring forward, we are committed to ensuring our approach also includes a range of practical actions the government and partners will take to tackle this crime; including research into reliability of rapid drug testing kits; expanding the ways people can report spiking and improved information sources for all.
As Minister for Victims and Safeguarding, my focus is on making sure we have the laws, powers and resources in place to protect vulnerable people from harm. Spiking is as disgraceful as it is dangerous, and we are clear we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.
In Autumn 2021, the police recorded an increase in spiking incidents, both drink spiking and a new phenomenon of needle spiking. The greatest number of incidents occurred in university towns, coinciding with Freshers’ Week and students returning to higher education following lockdown. Following the peak in Autumn 2021, the number of reported spiking incidents has fallen month on month. Whilst the data shows that spiking is not on the scale of previous years, we recognise that not all incidents of spiking are reported to the police. We estimate that the true level of spiking may be somewhat higher than current data but well below the volume in Autumn 2021. No one should feel unsafe on a night out, and that is why Government is taking action to tackle this crime.
Spiking, in whichever form, is a horrendous and invasive crime. While the data indicates the majority of victims are women and girls, men and boys can also be targeted. It is against the law and anyone who commits this crime faces up to ten years in prison. A victim does not need to be assaulted for it to constitute a crime. The simple act of adding something to a drink or injecting someone with a needle (without their knowledge or consent) is enough.
Alongside this report, we have launched a series of information and support pages about spiking on Gov.UK, which aim to clarify organisations’ roles and responsibilities in tackling spiking within their areas of responsibility, sets out the existing legal framework that captures this type of offending, and seeks to standardise approaches, training, and protocols. It also provides links to a range of helpful information, guidance and resources for businesses and the broader public.
The Government would like to thank all those brave victims for their contributions to this important work; they have been invaluable in developing our understanding of these crimes and in enabling us to respond more effectively.
History
In his oral evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s (HASC) inquiry on spiking, Michael Kill, Chair of the Night-Time Industry Association (NTIA) noted that “despite the rise in reported incidents, this has been happening for some 20 or 30 years within the industry”.[footnote 1] But we know that spiking is by no means a new phenomenon, going back significantly further than the 20–30-year estimate; there were reports in the 1800s about the use of ‘knockout drops’ – a sedative, chloral hydrate, became known as a ‘Mickey Finn Special’; named after a bartender who used this in cocktails to sedate and subsequently steal from patrons. There is also evidence of the chemical chloroform being used in the late 19th century to incapacitate victims in order to steal their watches.[footnote 2] Chloroform has long been associated with its ability to immobilise people, given its widespread use as an anaesthetic in the UK and German-speaking countries between 1865 and 1920.[footnote 3] The Offences against the Person Act (OAPA) was passed in Parliament in November of 1861 and brought into force one of the earliest examples of what we could refer to today as anti-spiking legislation[footnote 4]. Sections 23 and 24 of the OAPA specifically look to tackle circumstances where an individual administers a poison or any noxious substance to another person, via any method, without their consent. Recorded crime figures also show that police have been using these offences to stop criminals consistently over the years. The following examples are within the range of behaviours that would be considered spiking, under the existing legislation: Putting alcohol into someone’s drink without their knowledge or permission. This includes adding measures to someone’s drink that they have not asked for. Putting prescription or illegal drugs into another person’s alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink without their knowledge or permission Injecting another person with prescription or illegal drugs without their knowledge or permission Putting prescription or illegal drugs into another person’s food without their knowledge or permission Putting prescription or illegal drugs into another person’s cigarette or vape without their knowledge or permission. Most experiences we know about centre on the administering of substances through “drink spiking.” So when we began hearing about a new trend of “needle spiking” in public spaces in Autumn 2021[footnote 5], there was understandable public concern and fear, particularly amongst young women. These concerns focused on the greater risk faced by young women of being spiked when on nights out and experiencing the adverse effects of such, including being at an increased level of vulnerability to further harm but also the long-term physiological impacts. The Home Secretary at the time asked the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) to urgently review the situation. The Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) launched an inquiry into spiking and published its report (HC 967) on 26 April 2022[footnote 6]. The Committee heard oral evidence from witnesses, received more than 50 submissions of written pieces of evidence, and issued a survey for spiking victims and witnesses. Responses were received from more than 3,000 spiking victims or witnesses. The report included twelve recommendations for government, which fell into four themes: the scale of the problem; the legal framework; preventing and deterring spiking; and detecting and investigating spiking. Since the report was published in April 2022, government has provided several updates to the committee on general progress to tackle spiking, alongside providing updates against each recommendation. The Home Office committed during the passage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act 2022 to publish a report into the scale and nature of spiking and to carry out a review of the existing legislative landscape to determine whether there is a need for a new, specific criminal offence for spiking (or whether the existing laws criminalising spiking were sufficient and there were other factors at play). This report will fulfil these commitments and set out what action government has taken, and will continue to take, to tackle this crime.
Improving our understanding
Since Autumn 2021, we have made great strides to understand and more effectively tackle spiking, as well as placing a significant focus on a victim-first approach. Our priority has been to ensure that victims have the confidence to come forward and report these crimes and that they are taken seriously when they do so. National Police Chiefs’ Council In response to the newly identified threat of needle spiking, and the ask of the then Home Secretary, the NPCC established a Gold Group under the name ‘Operation Lester’ to coordinate the national policing response to spiking. All police forces were required to appoint dedicated spiking leads and the NPCC organised regular meetings to collate insight, share national learning and respond to any local trends. Spiking leads were required to feed regular data on needle spiking into NPCC. The NPCC developed a forensic strategy and worked with Eurofins Forensic Services to develop a dedicated testing process for spiking samples. This capability has enabled law enforcement to build a better understanding of what drugs are being used and how common (or not) they are in these crimes. Forces created local investigative plans, conducted a range of spiking-related training and awareness sessions for both staff and partners, and established local partnerships to address spiking. Operation Lester transferred across to DCC Maggie Blyth, the National Policing Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in May 2022, recognising the importance and benefit of incorporating spiking into law enforcement’s wider work to tackle VAWG crimes and improve victim experience. At the same time, force data requirements were expanded to include all types of spiking, not just those cases where the use of a needle is reported. Work by the police to tackle spiking is ongoing, and law enforcement are looking to improve based on lessons learned. Government review As part of our work to understand the nature and prevalence of spiking and to help build our understanding around legislative gaps, the Home Office undertook an internal research project which included desk research, stakeholder engagement, and interviews with people with experience of current processes, including police, healthcare providers and members of the public. We also undertook a short desk-based review of how spiking was being addressed internationally. In their report, the Home Affairs Select Committee recommended that the Home Office commission academic research into the motivations and profile of offenders, to feed into a national strategy for preventing, detecting, and prosecuting spiking offences. Before commissioning any new research, we collaborated with Dr Amy Burrell and Professor Jessica Woodhams from the University of Birmingham and colleagues from the National Crime Agency (NCA) who conducted a systematic search of the existing research on spiking to help us understand more about perpetrator motivations.[footnote 7] Working across government and with local partners We established a cross-government Spiking Programme Board which sat beneath a Ministerial Roundtable chaired by the previous Minister for Safeguarding, with the core membership bringing together partners from across: Home Office Department for Education Ministry of Justice Department for Culture, Media, and Sport Department for Health and Social Care Other Departments and agencies, including across the Criminal Justice System (as needed) We engaged with the Local Government Association and local authorities to understand how spiking was playing out in their communities, and action being taken to address it, to build our understanding of the crime and share good practice. We spoke to local councillors and licensing committee representatives, as well as partners in the night-time economy sector and the security industry. Festivals and outdoor events The Home Office worked closely with the Festivals and Outdoor events sector and the NPCC to ensure sufficient data collection, protocols, training, communications, and guidance was in place for event organisers, the police, security personnel and audiences ahead of summer events. We established weekly meetings with key stakeholders to review the situation at festivals in ‘real time’ to ensure swift responses and facilitate the sharing of learning and good practice.
What do we know now?
We have focussed much of our efforts on developing a better understanding of the problem, as well as implementing practical measures to address spiking. Underreporting We know that these crimes can be underreported. This can be due to a range of factors, including embarrassment, pressure from perpetrators or fear of further violence, lack of trust in the police or assumption that the police could not help, and fear of not being believed. This means there are challenges in understanding the true prevalence, motivations of perpetrators, substances being used, and the nature of needle spiking. Spiking in all its forms is a challenging crime to assess; victims may not be aware that the effects they are experiencing are the result of being spiked. Victims may also be dealing with the trauma of a related offence, such as sexual assault, which could impact their willingness to pursue reporting the crime. The following statements were shared with us during the interviews conducted as part of our internal research: I felt like I could have said it ‘til I was blue in the face that I was spiked but my friends would think I was too drunk […] if your friends don’t believe you, are the police going to believe you? Victim of Spiking I think two things I would need [to report]. I would need to be personally confident, and I would need lots of evidence. Perhaps the evidence would give me confidence. Victim of Spiking I’ve had history of having to report stuff to the police before. I’ve had my house broken into before. I remember that being a waste of time. I didn’t want to do it again. Victim of Spiking I would think of it [reporting], but I wouldn’t expect anything to come of it. You should make sure it gets logged in case it happens a lot in one club. I have 0% faith they would do an interview or look at the club CCTV or whatever it takes to get the ball rolling. It’s not the top of their list. General Public The police said they’ll check it out. They asked if I was aware if the pub had CCTV. I was on the phone for less than 10 minutes and it was like tick, tick, tick, going through a list, in their derogatory tone. Didn’t hear back. Victim of Spiking Those around a victim may also struggle to identify a spiking incident. In addition to the challenges to recognising that an incident has occurred, our interviews with participants highlighted several factors that could be contributing to underreporting particularly focused on societal and cultural challenges. It’s really important to communicate the urgency of getting forensic tested after the incident happens. [It’s] Really unclear which substances are being used to spike victims’ drinks, and whether alcohol is playing a part in that. Even though we’re getting more data, it still feels like we don’t know enough…there are still a lot of gaps. Police Additionally, the perception is that victims of spiking are young, typically white, women who are in clubs in larger cities. While most victims are younger women, this image of a spiking victim can leave some feeling less likely to act if they don’t feel they fit this image. If it happened to a female, I might have been a bit more supportive but if it was a male friend whether they were straight or gay I would have thought that they might have drunk a bit too much or taken something. Victim of Spiking The worry is wasting their time. I come from Zimbabwe. In Africa, police are meant to be feared. You see a police officer and you run the other way. Victim of Spiking Prevalence The underreporting challenges discussed have made it difficult to truly understand the scale, nature and prevalence of this type of offending, however we do know that reports of spiking have not reached the peaks that we saw in Autumn 2021 (though we still believe that there is underreporting). We would encourage anyone who thinks they have been spiked to report as quickly as they feel able so that the Police can take immediate action. Between May 2022 and April 2023, the police received 6,732 reports of spiking, which included 957 needle spiking reports. On average, the Police receive 561 reports a month, with the majority coming from females who believe their drink has been spiked – though spiking can affect anyone. It is important to note that needle spiking reports are significantly lower than those reported in the autumn of 2021 and the majority of reports are for drink spiking. Analysis of the numbers of relevant spiking crimes recorded by police in England and Wales, shows a significant increase in victim reports in the fourth quarter of 2021. This followed the extensive media reporting of needle spiking incidents in September of that year. Number of spiking reports made between January 2021 and June 2023[footnote 8] There was a clear rise in the latter part of 2021 which, once significant media attention developed, turned into a very significant rise. From the beginning of January 2022, the levels of reporting reduced significantly but remained at levels higher than prior to October 2021. Since then we have seen very steady reporting rates which are elevated from before Q3 2021. A key period was Q3 2022 where we did not see a huge increase (as in 2021). The following graph shows a fairly constant reporting level to the police between January 2018 and September 2021 for crimes that might be considered ‘spiking’ , rising significantly from October 2021. The below also highlights the four main offence codes used to capture spiking up until September 2021. The offence most commonly used by police to record this crime type is section 24 of the OAPA (offence code 008/02). Bar chart showing the rise in 'Administering poison with intent to injure or annoy' in autumn 2021. We believe that the current levels we are seeing more accurately reflect the true picture and result from greater consistency in police recording combined with improved victim confidence to report these crimes. This data is echoed by that collected by NPCC. They began collecting data on needle spiking from all forces in September 2021 and that of drink and other forms of spiking from May 2022. The chart below shows the dramatic rise and peak in needle spiking incidents occurring across Autumn 2021, then dropping significantly across 2022. Total reported spiking offences per month, Sept 21 - Oct22 Literature review We asked the University of Birmingham and NCA team to review the available literature on spiking prevalence. Their review[footnote 9] reinforced that prevalence of this crime is difficult to measure. Of the 87 papers reviewed, 47 included some relevant information on spiking (i.e., a substance administered covertly) but the prevalence levels varied widely from under 1% of cases to over 66% of cases.[footnote 10] The authors suggest that this is most likely to be a result of the different types of data samples used across papers. For example, samples ranged from under 100 to over 40,000 cases, some only sampled one gender or a particular age group, some only considered spiking in the context of a secondary offence, and some used as their information source toxicology reports or hospital records whereas others used survey/interview/focus group data. The scale of the differences between samples makes meaningful comparisons across papers difficult and so the overall prevalence of spiking is difficult to determine. Another challenge identified by the review was that many researchers struggled to determine if all the cases they were analysing were spiking incidents. Even where toxicology test results were positive for a substance, without information on voluntary versus involuntary consumption of substances (including alcohol), confirming a case of spiking remains difficult. In other cases, the short half-life of some drugs could result in false negatives (i.e., someone testing negative when they were, in fact, spiked). These issues can mean that prevalence might be under- or over-estimated which adds further complications to determining genuine prevalence. Finally, the review identified no papers that were specifically on needle spiking. There were only two references to injection as a method of administration. In summary, their overarching finding is that it is hard to determine actual levels of spiking from the existing literature and they recommend more focused research work in this area, which we will consider moving forward. International Picture – the Global Drug Survey The 2022 Global Drug Survey[footnote 11] (GDS) included questions to explore the experiences of people who thought their drink had been spiked. However, it is important to note that the GDS is not representative of the general population, for example, GDS respondents tend to be younger and more experienced with illicit drugs. The survey began in mid-November 2021 and closed at the end February 2022 - over 45,000 people had taken part. 5,221 respondents completed the drink spiking section of the survey. Most participants of that section were from the UK (24%), New Zealand (19%), Australia (16%), USA (10%), Finland (8%), and Italy (4%). In relation to drink spiking specifically, the interim findings showed that: 18.2% (N=951) reported that they thought their drink had ever been spiked and 1.8% (n=94) reported that they thought their drink had been spiked in the last 12 months[footnote 12]. 50% of participants stated that spiking incidents occurred in a bar or club, 22% in a private home, 14% in a pub, 3% in a festival and 11% were other venues (e.g., college, work, concerts). 35% of participants declared having 5-9 drinks on the date of the spiking incident, 32% declared 3-4 drinks, 18% had 2 or less and 15% had 10 or more Reasons why participants suspected they had been spiked included: 50% declaring they ‘felt weird/not drunk’, 45% declared a loss of memory, 28% declared passing out, 26% declared started seeing/hearing things or generally confused, 23% declared waking up somewhere strange, 23% declared their vision or hearing ‘went weird’, and 4% felt a sharp pain/like a needle had been stuck in their body. A further 26% declared there were ‘other’ reasons as to why they suspected they had been spiked. 80% thought someone added a drug to their drink (excluding alcohol), 5% thought they were injected with a drug, 5% thought alcohol was added to their drink, and 15% declared having no idea. [footnote 13] 54% thought a stranger spiked them, 24% thought someone known to them spiked them, and 22% had no idea who had spiked them. 9% declared attending the hospital, 8% declared reporting to the police, and 13% declared reporting the incident to the venue. 14% declared being a victim of a sexual assault during the spiking incident, 2% declared being a victim of an assault (excluding sexual assault) during this incident and 84% declared not being the victim of assault during this incident.[footnote 14]
In Chapter 1 we discussed the work Government and other partners have been doing to better understand the scale and nature of spiking in order that we can best address it. We believe that in order to provide the best support for victims and the greatest opportunity to identify and prosecute offenders, there needs to be a whole-system approach.
As set out under Chapters 1 and 2, we have taken significant steps to develop our understanding of and take action to tackle spiking. It is our hope that the action taken to date provides long-lasting results in stamping out this abhorrent crime and provide the best possible support to potential and suspected victims.
Although we are not seeing the levels of spiking reported in Autumn 2021, we are determined to do what is necessary to tackle this crime. There are continued gaps in our understanding around motivations of perpetrators. The ability to identify and bring perpetrators to justice is also an area that needs focus, requiring a holistic response across police, business, and others. That is why we believe that ongoing commitment from our partners and long-lasting solutions are key.
Existing offences
There are currently a wide range of offences that exist in law that can be used to cover spiking, including: The most frequently used offence for spiking incidents is section 24 of the Offences against the Person Act (OAPA) 1861. Section 24 (maliciously administering poison) covers the offence of spiking, but also covers other behaviour that would not be considered as spiking e.g., an individual being pepper sprayed, or having faeces thrown at them (known as ‘potting’). This broad coverage and flexible use of section 24 and other available offences, means that all methods of spiking are already covered within the current legislation. https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/3295/pdf/ ↩ Knock-out and Chloroform | February 09, 1894 | The Philadelphia Record - Google News Archive Search ↩ Wawersik, J. (1997). “History of chloroform anesthesia” - PubMed (nih.gov) ↩ Offences against the Person Act 1861 (legislation.gov.uk) ↩ Calls for nightclub searches after Nottingham needle spiking reports - BBC News ↩ (HC 967) Spiking – 9th Report | Home Affairs Select Committee (parliament.uk) ↩ Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023 ↩ This is not a complete picture as the principal offence rule means that any spiking that is linked to a more serious offence (such as rape) will be hidden within that substantive offence and from the data held centrally. ↩ Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023 ↩ In this context, prevalence is measured using the percentage of individuals in a particular sample who have/suspect that they have been spiked in the past. ↩ 2022DrinkSpike.pdf (globaldrugsurvey.com) ↩ last 12 months represents most of 2021 when many regions were in lockdown. ↩ Participants were able to select multiple options. ↩ For all participants in the GDS ↩ Potential victims of spiking urged to report to police and get tested quickly as nearly 5,000 reports of spiking are made within a year (npcc.police.uk) ↩ Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023 ↩ Prego-Meleiro et al., 2022 (cited in Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023) ↩ Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023 ↩ See, for example, Burgess et al., 2009, Hurley et al., 2006, Scott-Ham & Burton, 2006, Taylor et al., 2004, Wille et al., 2021(cited in Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023) ↩ Burrell, Woodhams, Gregory, and Robinson, 2023 ↩ McPherson, 2007; Swan, Lasky, Fisher, Woodbrown, Bonsu, Schramm., Warren, Coker, and Williams, 2017 ↩ https://researchrepository.rmit.edu.au/esploro/outputs/doctoral/Drink-spiking-an-investigation-of-its-occurrence-and-predictors-of-perpetration-and-victimisation/9921861580101341 ↩ [2007] UKHL 38, [2008] 1 AC 269, per Lord Bingham of Cornhill from [9] ↩ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-59013294 ↩ https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/dec/24/ukcrime.martinwainwright ↩ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-46616990 ↩ Occupation data was missing in 78% of cases. ↩ Spiking: what universities can do (universitiesuk.ac.uk) ↩ How have universities taken action on spiking? (universitiesuk.ac.uk) ↩ RCEM_Spiking_Position_Statement_July_2022.pdf ↩ Spiking – how to protect yourself on a night out | FRANK (talktofrank.com) ↩ Campaign resources | ENOUGH ↩ Drink Spiking Posters (licensingsavi.com) ↩ DRINK SPIKING - Night-Time Industries Association (ntia.co.uk) ↩ LGA guidance note on drink spiking prevention | Local Government Association ↩ LGA – Keep freshers’ week fun and stay safe against spiking | Local Government Association ↩ Back to top
Dec 10, 2021 · Getty Images. People in the UK are being urged to share their experiences of being spiked, as part of a public inquiry launched this week. It follows recent reports of women, many of them...
Nov 12, 2021 · You put a drop of your drink on to the wristband, and if it's been spiked with ketamine or GHB - two common drink spiking drugs - it will change colour.
