A Leeds dad who believes his drink was spiked in Magaluf is sending an urgent warning to anyone travelling to the resort, after he was left "hallucinating for three days".
Lee Cocker was on holiday in Mallorca with his 16-year-old daughter, Charley, to celebrate the end of her GCSE exams. But their "superb" trip was "ruined" when Lee was "drugged and mugged".
The 47-year-old, from New Farnley, said he had only drunk three pints on the Saturday evening, but "began having visions and feeling disorientated". It was only later, after his daughter had led him home, that he realised his phone had been taken from his bag.
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He said: "I’m a 6ft 3in, 16st lump, and I went away thinking 'it wont happen to me, I'm here to look after my daughter' and it did. I'm just at the back end of three days of hallucinations.
"My daughter led me off home after we realised that my telephone had gone out of my bag, which was across my chest. [In] less than a 15-minute period, I went from completely straight-minded to being off my head.
"You could take the view that 'it won’t happen to me' – trust me I felt the same – but it did. It took three days to recover afterwards. While the effects faded across the night, I was still having visions when I shut my eyes until Thursday."
Lee said he had heard horror stories from other guests at their hotel. He added: "It wasn’t just me, we met scores of people and I'd say nearly every group had someone who had possessions stolen on the main strip. People were walking round like zombies."
He said he had seen one girl walk off her balcony, "breaking both her ankles". He knew of another lad "who had all of his ID stolen", along with his phone and 200 Euro.
"I’ve heard of thefts happening when I've been abroad before, but few and far between, not on this sort of scale," Lee added. "Please, please don’t let it happen to you."
'Stay safe'
Lee is now on a mission to make sure other holidaymakers are aware of how to stay safe. He advises people to take cash out, rather than cards, and not to accept drinks from strangers or leave belongings unattended.
He also recommends making a note of the mobile phone IMEI code (a unique serial number that can usually be found via your phone's settings or by contacting your network provider), as it helps when reporting a stolen phone. If you have access to a cheap, back-up phone, it could be a good alternative to taking out an expensive one.
He also suggests wearing clothes with zip pockets and, if using a bag, to always have it zipped. He urges people to avoid wearing expensive jewellery.
Lee suggests staying in groups where possible and adds: "If you start to feel overly drunk, compared to what you have consumed, go back to your hotel ASAP."
He said: "The main thing is that we are both home safe and unharmed and I've learnt a big lesson."
