Young people boycott nightclubs for ‘Girls Night In’ amid sharp rise in spiking

Thousands of young people across the UK are set to boycott nightclubs for a “girls’ night in” as they protest against a sharp rise in spiking cases.

Women from various university cities including Nottingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Bournemouth will stay in on Wednesday night as part of the Girls Night In campaign, focused on “spreading awareness and challenging clubs” to keep people safe.

Dozens of local Instagram pages have been created to spread the news of the campaign, amassing thousands of followers.

It comes after hundreds of cases including drink spiking and injections were reported in recent months.

A man appeared in court charged with rape on Wednesday after a complaint from a woman who said her drink had been spiked.

Dale Garlick, 29, of Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on December 1, a spokeswoman for Tameside Magistrates’ Court said.

Greater Manchester Police said the force received a report in September from a woman who said that at some time during a night out in Stalybridge days earlier her drink had been spiked and she had been raped.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said there have been 198 confirmed reports of drink spiking in September and October across various parts of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus 24 reports of some form of injection.

Meanwhile, detectives are investigating six reports of women being injected while on nights out in Brighton during the past week.

Chief Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw of Brighton police said the reports are being taken “incredibly seriously” and called for any possible victims of spiking to let police or bar staff know as soon as possible.