Needle spiking is the surreptitious injection of drugs into a person. Reports of the practice emerged in 2021, initially in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and some researchers, including a medical sociologist and a folklorist, described the resulting wave of reports as a moral panic or social panic rather than a confirmed pattern of offending. A British Home Affairs Committee review of 692 incidents recorded in the last three months of 2021 found only one offender identified and one secondary offense recorded.
Facts
Elements of OffenseA 2023 Irish Seanad bill would define spiking as administering, injecting or causing a person to orally take a substance without their knowledge or consent, with intent to overpower or sedate them, engage in a sexual act, cause harm, make a gain, or cause a loss. 1 Notable ExampleIn Switzerland, a 23-year-old woman was convicted of obstructing justice and fined after repeatedly lying to police that she had been the victim of a needle-spiking attack. 1 Jurisdiction VariationSpanish authorities concluded that all reports of needle spiking in the Balearic Islands were false, and extended that conclusion to reports from the rest of Spain. 1 Classification
Offense GradeSerious or Indictable Offense 1 Connections
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Sources
1. Needle spiking (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia, Legislative responses section, Ireland
overpower or sedate the person, to engage in a sexual act, cause harm, make a gain or cause a loss
Wikipedia, Spain section
concluded all reports of needle spiking in the Balearic Islands were false, extrapolating this to reports from the rest of Spain
Wikipedia, Switzerland section
a 23-year-old woman was convicted of obstructing justice and fined because she repeatedly lied to the police, claiming that she had been the victim of such an attack
View the Sourcelegislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): Offences against the Person Act 1861, section 24
legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives)In Group: Maiming, Poisoning and Harm by Particular Means, Statute textQuote, In Group: Maiming, Poisoning and Harm by Particular Means, Statute text
Maliciously administering poison, &c. with intent to injure, aggrieve, or annoy any other person.
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