A Dublin dad has opened up about a terrifying incident where his daughter was spiked on a night out with her friends.
New figures released by An Garda Siochana shows that the number of reported spiking incidents increased from 62 in 2021 to 106 last year. The figures were brought to the Dail this week by Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Mid West Mark Ward.
Dublin dad Robbie got in touch with Deputy Ward, his local TD, about the issue after his daughter was spiked while on a night out. Speaking to Newstalk's Lunchtime Live, Robbie described the incident as "horrible and frightening" and warned people to be vigilant.
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He said: "My daughter was just all over the place. It was frightening... she didn't know what was happening to her. It was a horrible and frightening thing."
Robbie said his daughter didn't have any recollection of what happened during the night, but thankfully she was brought home in a taxi by a young woman who found her. "She said to me the next day, 'dad, I really didn't have that much to drink' and she said she was all over the shop," he said.
"She lost her friends, she didn't know where they went. Lucky enough, this young girl was living in the same area and found her and asked if she was alright. She put her in the taxi and brought her home to us.
"Fair play to her. Thank you to that girl."
Robbie explained that he wanted to raise awareness about spiking incidents and urged people to be vigilant when socialising. He added: "What I would say to people out there, the important thing to remember is that it can happen to you. Don't think it won't ever happen to you."
Deputy Ward told Classic Hits: "This 106 in 2022 are only the ones reporting it to the gardai. How many incidents happen when the gardai aren't informed? It is quite concerning.
"25 of these were also needle spikes. I'm a father of a teenage daughter, I would have these personal concerns as well."
Deupty Ward added that the awareness campaign rolled out by the Department of Justice needs to be enhanced, and that additional training must be provided to staff to help spot incidents.
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