The Sexual Offences Act 2003 covers cases where someone spikes a victim to sexually assault them.
The most common way that people are spiked is by someone adding alcohol to their non-alcoholic drink, or extra alcohol to their alcoholic one, without their knowledge and/or consent.
Spiking can happen to anyone anywhere – no matter their age, gender, sexuality or ethnicity. It can be carried out by strangers or by people you know. It can take a long time to recover from someone spiking you.
Spiking can put you at greater risk of injury, theft or assault. It is also dangerous to drive when someone has spiked you. This is why we treat spiking reports should be taken as seriously as those of violent, physical attacks
Drugs (legal or illegal) can also be added to drinks or put in someone’s body in another way, such as giving someone a drug but telling them it is a different dosage or a different drug altogether, or injecting it into them with a syringe. A person’s drink can be spiked to make them more vulnerable for a variety of motives, including theft or sexual assault.
Spiking can happen for different reasons, for example because someone thinks it is `funny` or because somebody wants to commit a crime against the victim, they are spiking such as rape or sexual assault. Whatever the reason, spiking is never okay or funny and can make the victim extremely vulnerable or ill, as well as having an impact on their wellbeing. Drink spiking can happen in any situation and it’s never your fault.
Spiking someone in order to commit a sexual offence is a serious crime that can carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison – even if a sexual offence doesn`t actually take place. If a sexual offence does take place, the perpetrator will face an additional sentence.
Read here for some spiking myths.