Concern grows in the UK about a wave of punctures to drug women in bars

A wave of testimonies from students drugged against their will with injections has generated concern in the United Kingdom, where the police detected up to 100 cases of this disturbing phenomenon and made the first arrests.

For years, the practice of introducing a drug into a victim’s drink has been known.

But in recent days, numerous young women and some men reported that they tried to drug them in British bars or nightclubs by pricking them with a needle, a phenomenon that shocked the country.

The testimonies multiplied after two students from the University of Nottingham denounced him for the first time in the British media, showing the marks of the needles and the bruises on the skin.

Zara Owen, a freshman at the university, explained that she woke up after a night of partying with very vague memories of what happened the day before and with pain in her crotch, where she had the mark of a puncture.

Sarah Buckle, a sophomore, was taken to a hospital by her friends after fainting during a night out.

Then, she realized she had a bruise on her hand, which she showed on Channel 4 News television.

British police indicated that since September they had recorded 144 incidents in which they tried to drug a person with their drink and 24 with an injection.

“It is clear that this information is very worrying,” said Jason Harwin, deputy chief of the police and head of the narcotics section in the federation (NPCC) that coordinates the different police agencies.

Three detainees

The police of Nottinghamshire, in the north of England, announced this Friday the arrest of two men in the framework of the investigation of this type of incidents.

The 18 and 19-year-old detainees are suspected of having planned to drug other people “with the intention of harming, harassing or injuring them,” the security forces said.

In neighboring Lincolnshire, a 35-year-old man was also arrested on Friday morning on suspicion of possessing drugs with the intention of administering them.

Nottinghamshire police had been aware since the beginning of October of 15 “alleged punctures with a pointed object” suffered by 14 women and one man, and 32 incidents of this type were reported in different administrations since the beginning of September.

This type of aggression was also registered in the south of England.

Devon and Cornwall police said they are investigating “an incident in which a woman was attacked with a needle” at a nightclub in Exeter. Another similar case occurred in the West Midlands.