DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR GLASS?

With a worrying rise in drink spiking incidents, we ask...

- LOUISE BATY

Be careful if you're heading out for a glass of wine this weekend, as according to new research, there's been a dramatic rise in drink spiking, with one in 10 adults falling victim.

When your drink is spiked – either with more alcohol or drugs, including the date rape drug Rohypnol, or ‘roofies’ – you’re less able to defend yourself against a robbery or a sexual assault. But some people are being spiked for ‘fun’ in a game allegedly called Take Them Down, in which perpetrators watch victims fall over, publicly humiliating them.

Recently, Good Morning Britain’s Ranvir Singh opened up about one terrifying experience when working in Manchester ‘years ago’. ‘I had arrived early and I went to the bar and bought one glass of wine,’ she recalls. ‘I probably drank half of it, or maybe three quarters, and I thought, “I’m just going to nip to the loo before everyone arrives.”’ But before she could even make it to the toilets, everything ‘started to swim’. ‘I remember feeling my legs go,’ she said, and she had no memory of getting home. Yet, she says, she never thought to tell police at the time.

Research shows that only 3% of drink-spiking incidents are reported, despite the large number of people who do come forward, and convictions are also alarmingly low. But a new law will see ‘administering a harmful substance’, including spiking, as a specific criminal offence, punishable by 10 years in prison. We speak to one victim who alleges that midlife women are being particularly targeted ‘for sport’.

‘I felt so ashamed and blamed myself’