Gardai have found no evidence of ‘needle spiking’ after investigating multiple claims of people getting drugged by injection in Irish nightclubs last year.
There were 39 reports of alleged ‘spiking by injection’ reported to gardai in 2021, particularly during the last quarter, and none have been reported so far in 2022.
However, the Irish Examiner revealed that while investigations are ongoing, gardai have not yet found evidence in any incident confirming substances were injected by needles.
It comes after a surge of alarming claims of ‘needle spiking’ last autumn, in which many women came forward on social media with allegations of being spiked with needles or syringes in bars and nightclubs.
Many reported feeling nausea and dizziness on a night out and found unexplained puncture marks or bruises on their skin the following day, leading them to believe they had been spiked by a needle.
This led to dozens of incidents being reported to gardai as well as awareness campaigns and rallies led by students to highlight the dangers of needle spiking, which was described as a “worrying phenomenon” by Higher Education Minister Simon Harris.
In a statement to the Irish Mirror on Tuesday, a Garda spokesperson said: “An Garda Siochana has confirmed that it has received a number of reports (39 in total), relating to allegations of ‘spiking by injections’, specifically during the last quarter of 2021. There have been no reports to date in 2022.
“An Garda Síochána has taken all these reports seriously and investigations are ongoing to determine the exact nature of each incident.
“While investigations continue, to date, An Garda Síochána has not determined conclusively that any reported incident of potential ‘drug spiking’ was as a direct result of ‘spiking by injection’.
“An Garda Siochana continues to engage with partner agencies (HSE, HPSC, HPRA) monitoring the current reporting of these matters for any identified patterns. An Garda Siochana does not comment on behalf of other agencies but understands that this pattern has not been identified by medical professionals at this time.”
Gardai concluded the statement saying they would advise any victims of any form of alleged ‘drug spiking’ to come forward and report such incidents to gardai and further advice on drink spiking can be found on the HSE website.
