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Police arrest two men in Nottingham after spate of ‘drug-spiking’ reports

Two men have been arrested in connection with a spate of reports of drug-spiking involving needles in Nottingham.

Nottinghamshire police said the men, aged 18 and 19, were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to administer poison after they received information from a member of the public on Wednesday.

The force said the men were in custody after being arrested “on suspicion of conspiracy to administer poison with intent to injure, annoy or aggrieve”. The arrests are not being linked to any specific allegation of spiking by a needle, or of a drink.

This week, the home secretary requested an urgent update from police on the reports of women being “spiked” by needles.

Nottinghamshire police have said they are investigating 15 separate incidents in less than a month of young women and men being jabbed with “something sharp”.

The force said more officers would be deployed in the city centre over the weekend, with a police dog operation planned for Saturday night and plainclothes officers on duty. They said they had received 32 other spiking reports since 4 September.

Supt Kathryn Craner, of Nottinghamshire police, said further checks would be carried out over the weekend. “It is really important that people carry on reporting any incidents of spiking to us as quickly as possible over the coming days and the weekends,” she said. “I also want to reassure people that as a force we are placing a lot of resources into these inquiries and continuing to thoroughly investigate every report made to us.”

Earlier, Lincolnshire police said it had arrested a 35-year-old man at 3am on Friday in connection with an attempted drink-spiking at a nightclub in Lincoln.

Lincolnshire’s police and crime commissioner, Marc Jones, said: “We cannot accept people being unsafe when they go out with friends for a drink. This arrest should send a huge signal to those would-be criminals who look to prey on our community in this despicable way.”

The campaign group Girls Night In is calling on people to boycott local bars and nightclubs on particular nights to put pressure on venues to do more to prevent spiking. The group wants measures including providing lids for drinks, and first aid and drug misuse training for staff.

Nationally, police have said there have been around 140 confirmed reports across September and October of drink spiking and 24 reports of some form of injection.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for drugs, Deputy Chief Constable Jason Harwin, said: “There are both male and female victims, though the majority have been young women. Alleged offences have taken place at licensed premises and private parties.”

A petition calling for clubs to be legally required to search guests before they enter has collected more than 162,000 signatures.

Devon and Cornwall police said they were investigating reports of a woman being attacked with a needle in Fever & Boutique in Exeter last Saturday.