From sex attacks to memory loss and robberies, women tell of horror at student clubs — as drugged drinks incidents double in three years
The number of people who have had their drink spiked in the UK has increased by 108 per cent in three years
THE bruised and battered face of Mimi Walter tells a sickening story she has no way of remembering.
She was found unconscious on a toilet floor during a night out — the victim of a drug she did not know she had taken.
Student Mimi, 19, is among the growing number of young women becoming victims of drink spiking.
Mimi had been celebrating Freshers’ Week at a student nightclub in Falmouth, Cornwall, last month when everything suddenly went blank.
She said: “The drug has a paralysing effect on the body and makes you completely unaware to what is going on.
“I was fortunate I was found in time and got the care I needed.
A couple of hours later, it is likely it would’ve been fatal.”
Another student, 20-year-old Alix Taylor, fractured her skull but survived after plunging naked from a window when her drink was spiked during a night out in Glasgow last month.
Many victims end up being raped or sexually assaulted and others are never able to establish what happened while under the drugs.
But some spikers are also using the tactic to take revenge on enemies, commit cashpoint robberies and even play pranks on mates.
The number of people who have had their drink spiked in the UK has increased by 108 per cent in three years.
Victims commonly report waking up with no recollection of the past 24 hours despite not drinking much.
They are often bruised, with clothes missing, and have a bad headache.
Jim Campbell, a former Home Office forensic scientist, has been working on cases of drink spiking for 40 years.
In 2004 he helped develop a DIY testing kit that can help show if a drink has been drugged.
Jim told The Sun: “Drink-spiking is prevalent at university.
"It’s a very social environment, people are going out a lot more.
“If you’re at a house party and your drink tastes a bit funny, then you might just put it down to cheap vodka and not realise there’s something more sinister going on.
“These drugs are easy for young people to get hold off.
"You can buy them with just a few clicks online.
“Perhaps most worryingly, it seems like young people find spiking drinks socially acceptable.
“This needs to change. A lot of these drugs can be deadly.
“They block the automatic memory and make people very compliant.
"By the time a victim’s memory starts to return, tests may not be able to find any drugs in the system.”
Jim believes police and the courts need to be better educated about the problem, and that evidence gathering must be more sophisticated.
He said: “Just because a drug test comes back negative, it does not mean there’s been no crime.”
Below, we speak to three victims about their ordeal.
Elise, 18, 'People were pointing and making fun'
TERRIFIED Elise Reid was bruised and in severe pain after a drink was spiked two weeks ago in her student pub.
She is calling for better awareness campaigns and free glass covers for students to help stop it happening to others.
Elise, studying at The University of Northumbria, said: “I live in student halls and two weeks ago, on a Friday night, I arranged to meet a friend for a quick drink in Newcastle.
“I was planning to work on essays that night, so only ordered one drink. I asked for a bottle but it came in a plastic cup.
“At Freshers’ Week we were given free non-spiking bottle tops to protect them from being drugged.
“But so many places don’t serve bottles because of safety concerns about glass.
“I was halfway through my drink when I began feeling odd. The room started to close in and the people seemed to push in on me.
“I felt people were pointing and making fun of me. When I tried to respond and protect myself, I couldn’t.
“It was like my mind was active but my body was paralysed. I don’t remember leaving. I have snippets of memory of being in town with people I didn’t know.
“I remember falling down and being unable to get up. I was powerless.
“My next memory is waking up on my bed, clothed, in my halls of residence. I have no idea how I got there.
"I have bruises on my arms and legs, my body felt like I’d done a 12-hour workout.
"I was shaking with fear.
“The friend I met in the pub says he didn’t remember me leaving but it terrifies me that no one noticed how out of control I was.
“I want more to be done to raise awareness so people can spot if someone has been spiked – before it’s too late.
“I know I never want it to happen ever again.”
Shannon, 20: 'I lost control of my limbs'
TOURISM student Shannon Quinn had one drink and lost control of her body.
She is studying at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and can no longer face drinking in public after her drink was laced with MDMA. She was left covered in bruises.
She said: “The flashbacks of that night still fill me with fear. It was February this year when my mum found me dumped on the front door step.
“She’d assumed I was drunk, until I woke up early the next morning being violently sick and with serious anxiety.
“I looked down at my body and it was covered in huge black bruises. I had no idea how they got there.
“I’d only had one drink in a student pub in Preston when I ordered a second.
“I was sitting at a table with friends. But it was busy, so I must not have noticed someone tampering with my drink.
"The last thing I remember is a weird feeling washing over me when I stood to go to the toilet. My sense of balance was going and I lost total control of my limbs.
“The noise and lights all blurred together and I started to get a bit scared.
“The next day, in my room, I was in shock. I had a bath to try to ease the pain and that’s when the flashbacks started.
“I remember being pulled and groped on the dancefloor. I have a recurring flashback of being on the street, trying to get up, my leg and arm hurting but someone holding me or pushing me down.
“It’s so incredibly scary. Mum took me to the GP for a full examination and the doctor confirmed my drink had been spiked with MDMA.
“They couldn’t confirm if I had been sexually assaulted because I’d had a bath, but they did tell me to call the police. I was so terrified I hid in my room for weeks.
“I could have died. I eventually told my university, who provided counselling. It helped, but nothing is being done to stop it happening again.”
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Jay, 27, 'Flashbacks of hands grabbing at me'
JAY GRACE was left so traumatised after having her drink spiked that she has transferred to a university closer to home.
The psychology student was in Exeter and remembers losing control of her body and being pushed and shoved by strangers before blacking out.
She was found by a friend in the toilets hours later and the following day discovered her drink had been spiked.
Jay said: “At first I loved the student lifestyle.
“I never thought students had their drinks spiked as I assumed everyone was too smart and it was a safe environment.
“On the first Friday of December last year I was out in a student bar, talking to friends.
"I’d ordered my first drink but it was busy and we were constantly being bumped into by people around us.
“I was dancing when the drug hit. I remember my arms and legs suddenly feeling heavy and I was ‘concreted’ to one spot.
"It’s all very hazy but suddenly I realised I had been separated from my friends.
“I didn’t know the men dancing close to me and when I tried to flee it felt like people I didn’t know were pulling me back, touching me and screaming at me.
“I still have flashbacks of hands grabbing at me and a recurring memory of toilet doors slamming. Everything else is a blank.
“My friend apparently found me after looking for hours and took me home.
“I woke the next day full of fear, anxiety and flashbacks of being attacked – but not being clear how.
“I told a student counsellor and the security guard checked the CCTV tape but the bar was chaos and nothing could be seen.
“I couldn’t sleep and felt so vulnerable I transferred to Truro College in Cornwall.
"Now I only drink bottles and keep my finger over them at all times.
“I’ve been left a wreck and I’m only speaking out because I want more to be done to stop this from happening to other girls.”