Guide to reporting spiking is launched by charities, police

The Guernsey Guide to Reporting Spiking has been released by local night-time economy safety charity SafetyNet, in partnership with Guernsey Police, Crimestoppers, Willow House and Victim Support.

Guernsey Police has received 17 reports of spiking so far this year, bringing the total number of spiking reports in Guernsey since 2019 to 107.

There have been no confirmed cases of spiking from these reports.

‘The last three years we’ve had a continual stream of messages from people who suspect that they’ve been spiked. We signpost them to support services but almost every single time they haven’t reported it and it became quite clear that there are some barriers in not understanding how to report it, when it’s actually a very straightforward process,’ said SafetyNet founder and chairwoman Poppy Murray.

‘A lack of trust in police can also be a barrier, so we wanted to put together a guide working with the police because they do want people to report these crimes to them.

'They want to support victims, but mostly we want people who this has happened to know what the next steps are, if you’ve gone through something

traumatic then to not know what to do next can make things worse.

‘This guide is every option available to the public and the support services available.’

Drink spiking can be with alcohol or other substances, through food or vapes.

There was also case in Jersey in September when a man was suspected to have been spiked by accepting some chewing gum from a stranger.

‘We have no confirmed cases here, but it’s very unlikely that Guernsey is the only place in the world where this isn’t happening, we think it’s more likely difficult to prove. But we’re hoping people start feeling more confident about reporting it,’ said Miss Murray.

Detective sergeant Tom Lowe said that the police hoped the guide would be useful for people.

‘We investigate every report of suspected spiking with a victim-first approach. Although no cases of spiking have ever been confirmed in Guernsey, we follow all lines of enquiry and are led by the evidence in our unbiased investigations,’ he said.

‘Continued reports allow us to build a picture of the type of offending which may be occurring in the community, but generally speaking, if people don’t come forward to report an offence, we can’t tackle it.’