Leeds students call for club boycott over drink spiking 'epidemic'

Students in Leeds have called for a boycott of city bars and clubs to tackle an "epidemic" of drink spiking.

Organiser Lucy Thompson said more pressure needed to be put on venues to protect people after two of her friends were recently spiked.

Since calling for the boycott, she said she had been inundated with women who had been victims while out in Leeds.

One student, Charlotte, 21, said she collapsed and was "drifting in and out of consciousness" after being spiked.

The Night Time Industry Association (NTIA) said it had seen a rise in drink-spiking throughout the UK over recent weeks.

Meanwhile, posts on social media about drink spiking in Leeds were rife, according to students, with some reporting being spiked by injection.

West Yorkshire Police said it was investigating one case of spiking by injection reported in Leeds city centre on 13 October.

"We have spoken to the victim about this matter and enquiries are currently ongoing into the incident," the force said.

The symptoms of drink spiking are often similar to being drunk, and include slurred speech, dizziness, drowsiness, sickness, headaches, confusion and passing out.

In response to attacks on her friends, Ms Thompson, 21, a second year Leeds University student, set up the Instagram page Girls Night In Leeds, urging students to boycott clubs and bars on Wednesday 27 October.

She said the reaction to her post had been "absolutely crazy", with many students backing the call.

"There is an epidemic of drink spiking and it's been going on for years. It's about time we did something to enact change," Ms Thompson said.

"A lot of the time, spiking gets misconstrued for being too drunk and we've heard from women that they've tried to get help from staff and bouncers and they've just been laughed at."

Ms Thompson said there was "no coherent protocol" over drink spiking for bars and clubs to follow, so "these venues don't necessarily do anything to help people or prevent it from happening in the first place".

Charlotte, a third year student at Leeds Conservatoire, said she was out with friends on Sunday night when she believed she was spiked in the New Penny pub in the city centre.

She said she had only had a little to drink when she collapsed. She claimed the bouncers refused her friend's request for help and instead assumed she was drunk.

"I had been working before I went out, so I hadn't been drinking all night. I must have only had two drinks," she said.

"I kind of remember seeing some people I knew, then after that I can't recall a thing. The next thing I do remember is lying on the pavement outside and drifting in and out of consciousness."

Charlotte said there was a "total lack of sympathy and interest" from the taxi driver who took her to hospital and from medical staff.

She said since posting on social media about her ordeal, she had received many messages from women who had experienced the same and she supported the planned boycott.

In response to Charlotte's claims, Neil Sowden, assistant manager at the New Penny pub, said "water and medical help" had been offered to her, but was "refused".

He added: "At no point did anyone come back to door staff to ask for medical help.

"We do everything we can in our power to help anyone and we also do regular searches on the door."

Det Supt Paula Bickerdike, from West Yorkshire Police, said officers "understand the genuine concerns that women have around their safety, particularly in the night-time economy".

She added the force was "absolutely committed to doing everything we can alongside our partner agencies to make the county a safer place for women and girls".

Michael Kill, NTIA chief executive officer, said venue operators had been working with police and local authorities "focusing on safeguarding customers, particularly women at night".

He said measures introduced in some regions included protecting drinks through barrier mechanisms, swab-testing drinks for contamination and searching people.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or send video here.