Gardaí investigated 106 spiking incidents in 2022

Michael Bolton

Gardaí  have announced they investigated 106 spiking incidents in 2022, just over twice as many as the year before.

62 incidents were probed in 2021, while 12 were investigated in 2020. However, bars and nightclubs were closed for the majority of 2020 due to Covid-19.

It's likely the true figure is believed to be even higher, as many people don't report drinks tampering.

Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Mid West Mark Ward said an awareness campaign is required for industry employees including bar staff and bouncers.

"I'd like to see if people are behaving suspiciously in a nightclub or a pub, or people feel like they are acting suspiciously, that they can actually go to the barman or to this steward and say I feel this person is acting suspiciously, and that might be able to prevent something happening."

Chief Executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell, condemns the practice, as she explained the many different types of spiking.

"Spiking is any substance being introduced into someone's drink that they are not expecting."

"It can be somebody giving somebody a triple shot of something instead of the one that they asked for, pouring bottle of something into punch that nobody knows about, adding an extra nagging into something that nobody knows about, as well as some drug put into the system.

"All of these are spiking because they are contaminating."

She has also called for the public to play their part to ensure the safety of people when socialising to stop the number of spiking incidents.

"People have to call out behaviour if they see somebody contaminating somebody else's drink, or causing them to be capacitated in some way.

"They have to stop it, they have to tell the person who is at risk of incapacitation about it."