Sarah Dines

A student who suspects she was a victim of spiking has said the low conviction rate is shocking but not surprising.

Figures obtained by The Bbc suggest that while there were nearly 5,000 reports of spiking-related incidents to forces in 2021/22, there were just 40 convictions in Four Years .

Poppy Read-Pitt, 20, said her drink was spiked in Nottingham in 2020 and that little had changed since then.

The government has said it will not create a specific offence for spiking.

Ms Read-Pitt, who is in the third year of an English Literature degree at the University of Nottingham, said: " The very least we can do is make it a specific crime.

" That shows The Authorities they can begin to look at it as something that is real, legitimate and serious.

" It feels like it happens just as much now as it did Last Year and as it did when I was a fresher.

" Nothing, absolutely nothing has changed. "

Ms Read-Pitt suspects her drink was spiked during a Night Out in Nottingham.

She Said : " I don't remember anything past 21:00 GMT, which was about 40 Minutes into us being at The Venue .

" There's just nothing, completely black, And Then I wake up at 09:00 The Next morning in my clothes, in My Bed and I have absolutely no memory of how I got there, What Happened or just anything at all really.

" I was completely immobile. I wasn't just drunk and stumbling. I don't know How To describe it… completely lifeless. "

Figures for England and Wales from the National Police Chiefs Council suggest.

However, the Ministry of Justice said that according to its latest figures for both countries,

Ms Read-Pitt was supported in her calls by another student at the university.

Abi Crook, 20, a third year geography student, said she had also been spiked on a Night Out in The City .

She Said : " By not having its own crime or specifically fitting into a category, it just makes it so much easier for The Police and other authorities to discount it. "

The Students were backed by The Campaign group Stamp Out Spiking.

Founder Dawn Dines said: " Police forces are making efforts to report incidents more fully but whilst spiking is not a separate prosecutable offence, it makes it impossible to prove the true scale, and impact of this crime. "

The government has said a New Law is unnecessary.

In January, Home Office minister Sarah Dines said there were already several offences which covered spiking incidents and.

The Home Affairs committee had previously argued a specific offence would have several benefits, including increased reporting of incidents, facilitating police work by improving data and " sending a clear message to perpetrators that this is a serious crime".

Labour MP Diana Johnson , committee chair, said: " Reporting is low, and prosecution rates are very rare indeed. "

The Home Office said: " We have concluded that there are already several offences which cover incidents of spiking, and we have not found any gap in The Law that a new spiking offence would fill.

" We have therefore concluded that a new offence is not required and will not be bringing in new legislation. "

Source of news: bbc.com