A sharp-eyed barmaid stopped a man from allegedly spiking a woman's drink when she spotted him acting strangely in a city centre bar.
Beth Mason was on duty at Coyote Ugly on Bold Street at around midnight, on January 28, when she noticed the lone male hovering next to groups of women, before drawing close to a lone woman and moving his hand over her drink.
She notified assistant manager Rebecca Fitzsimmons, who tested the woman's drink for GHB and Ketamine, the two most widely used drink spiking drugs, using a special spike test kit.
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Ray Boreham, general manager at Coyote Ugly, said: "Rebecca reviewed the CCTV footage and the footage showed he was acting suspiciously, his body language and the way his hand moved towards the glass. So she got hold of the woman directly and told her not to touch the drink.
"She used a spiking kit that we got from the BID team, and it went a strange colour. The guy had left the building by then, so security pursued him down Bold Street."
Staff alerted police officers in Concert Square about what had happened, and the man was arrested at the scene.
Following the incident, the saloon received a letter from Merseyside Police thanking staff for 'delivering high customer service to a vulnerable victim, paying particular attention to the Violence Against Women and Girls campaign'.
Ray said: "We want to make sure that everyone has a safe and responsible night out. No one wants to have to deal with the terrible consequences of what might have happened in this instance if the people involved weren't on top of it and looking out for one another.
"I have read in The ECHO that a few incidents of spiking happened last year with freshers, but this is the first time we have seen this in Coyote Ugly. I think it's just something you should be aware of. I don't see it as a growing problem, but it's something that everybody should be on board with.
"We all need to work to make sure this doesn't become a bigger issue moving forward. With our monthly meetings with Pubwatch (a voluntary scheme aimed at creating safe, responsibly-led social drinking environments) it's good that we can have this open dialogue with the police, BID and the local council."
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