Spiking victims ‘let down’ by emergency services

Saraya Haddad told the BBC she was spiked while having three drinks and a meal over three hours at a bar in 2019, shortly before she had been due to perform in a street play in central Brighton.

The 27-year-old said she woke up 13 hours later, not remembering anything, only to learn friends had taken her home.

“I was… very discombobulated.”

Wanting to prove what had happened, she visited A&E at the Royal Sussex Hospital the next morning, but was “shocked” when she said they refused to test her for drugs which could have been used to spike her.

The Metropolitan Police says, external it may be possible to detect if someone has been spiked in the last seven days through a urine or blood sample. But some drugs leave the body within 12 hours or much sooner.

They said only police can conduct a forensic test, unless a victim has been sexually assaulted, in which case they can be tested at a sexual assault referral centre where they will also get specialist support.