GHB: Home Secretary wants review into 'date-rape' drug after Reynhard Sinaga case

The home secretary has called for an urgent review into whether tougher controls are needed on "date-rape" drugs such as GHB.

It comes after Reynhard Sinaga was given multiple life sentences for rapes and sexual assaults on 48 men in Manchester.

Police believe he used drinks laced with GHB to make his victims unconscious before he attacked them.

Because of the nature of the drug, the majority of victims had memory loss and had no idea they had been raped.

Home Secretary Priti Patel called Sinaga's 10-year period of preying on young men "truly sickening".

"I'm deeply concerned by the use of illegal drugs like GHB to perpetrate these crimes and have asked the independent Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to expedite a review looking at whether our controls for these drugs are tough enough," she said.

GHB - gamma-hydroxybutyrate - is also known as liquid ecstasy and is used recreationally to reduce inhibitions, generate euphoria and increase the intensity of sex.

It is a class C drug that is unlawful to possess or supply, and has almost no smell and a salty or soapy taste.

It's normally measured with a syringe or put into vials to ensure users don't overdose, then mixed into a drink.

Taking too much can lead to unconsciousness, coma and death, and combining it with other depressants such as alcohol is especially dangerous.

Its potent sedative effect has seen it used to spike drinks in so-called "date rape" crimes.

Sentencing Sinaga, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC said: "Buying such drugs on the black market and giving surreptitious doses to strangers creates a huge risk of serious harm as there is a narrow margin between a euphoric high, unconsciousness and death.

"Giving such drugs to men who have drunk large quantities of alcohol is obviously risky as such drugs have an effect on the levels of consciousness.

"It was a risk you were prepared to ignore to satisfy your perverted desire to have sex with unconscious heterosexual men and film your activities.

"Such drugs in sufficient doses leave the victim with a complete blackout of what has happened, but can also carry a risk ultimately of serious injury or death should anything go wrong."

She said that "mercifully" none of the victims had suffered any lasting serious physical effects.