Drink spiked with date rape drug (From Croydon Guardian)

Drink spiked with date rape drug

12:15pm Wednesday 25th February 2004 in News By Croydon Guardian

A woman who escaped being attacked after her drink was spiked in a bar has spoken of her ordeal to alert others to the dangers of date rape drugs.

The incident happened around 9.30pm on Valentine's Day after the woman, who wants to remain anonymous, entered the Walkabout bar in Crown Hill, Croydon.

After having one drink, the woman went to join her friend at the bar but was accosted by a man she did not know.

She said as the man talked to her another man approached her from behind.

"I had my drink by my side all the time but as the guy distracted me his friend slipped something in my drink."

The woman pulled away from the man and went over to her friend. She bought another drink and went on to the dance floor.

But within around half an hour she was stumbling and unable to stand up straight.

"My friend said I was totally incoherent so she decided to take me home. I don't remember anything about the whole night."

Although the woman, who lives in Wallington, reported the incident to police she was unable to take the matter further as she could not identify the men.

But she said: "I would just like to stress to women to be on the look-out and not to leave their drinks unattended or accept drinks from strangers as it literally only takes a couple of seconds and you could be living with the consequences for the rest of your life."

Walkabout manager Rob Carruthers said the bar treats any incident of this kind very seriously.

He said: "We have signs up warning people about it. We try and be as pro-active as possible about it."

A spokesman for Croydon Police urged women not to leave drinks unattended or accept a drink from someone they did not trust. She said: "If you begin to feel really drunk after only a drink or two seek help from a friend or a member of the venue's management. It's important to get to a safe place as soon as possible."