FEARS have been raised about drinking spiking after a spate of worrying incidents saw a number of young people treated in hospital in the space of hours this week.
Cork hotelier John Gately expressed concern about the spate of alcohol spiking in city centre pubs after the terrifying events.
John, who runs the Commodore Hotel in Cobh, said he and his wife Darina received a frightening call from their son Tom in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The 21-year-old, who is a 6ft 1in tall ‘burly’ lad, was left “incoherent” after his drinks were spiked shortly after visiting a pub in Cork city centre.
John told Neil Prendeville on Cork’s Red FM: “It is every parents’ worst nightmare.
“Our son Tom is 21, a big burly lad and he went out last Monday. He has lots of friends and is a very popular guy.
“He was out of the country for a week or two and came back last weekend so he decided to meet up with his pals in a particular pub in town.
“He sent us a text around 1.30am. It was a normal text and said he was going to grab a cab home soon.
“The next minute my wife Darina got a call at about 2.50am, he didn’t know where he was, he was disoriented and confused.
“Darina went straight into town, she was so concerned. She picked him up some distance away from where he had been and was so concerned she took him straight to the Mercy University Hospital (MUH).
“He was near Lapp’s Quay and was completely disoriented. She was very worried about him.
“He does not even remember going down there. He does remember crossing the room of the place he was in and he felt a jolt of his glass.
“He reckons he had the glass in his hand when somebody did what they did and poured something into the glass.”
John said that when they arrived at the hospital, there were five other people in the waiting area of the emergency department with suspected spiking issues.
He said: “There were five students and three of the five had been spiked. One had been in the same place that Tom was in and another had happened in a different place.
“Darina was chatting to them. There were parents coming in all directions to rescue their kids. That all emerged from conversations at the hospital.
WHAT IS SPIKING AND WHAT TO DO?
SPIKING is classed as when someone gives another person drugs or alcohol without their knowledge or consent.
It may by done by any of the following methods:
- Putting something into someone’s drink
- Secretly using a needle to inject someone with something – usually in a crowded place
- Offering someone substances disguised as other drugs
- Purposely giving someone more of a substance than they intended to have or knew they were taking – for example, giving someone a double shot of alcohol instead of a single shot
The HSE advise immediately seeking help if you suspect you have been a victim of spiking.
They say: “If you think you or someone you’re with has been spiked, get help from someone you trust straight away, call 112 or 999 and go to a safe place.
“If you’re at a venue, let a member of staff or security know.”
“It was confirmed by the people in the Accident and Emergency Department that this is what is happened. And don’t forget that this is a Monday night in Cork.
“These people who are out doing this are a scourge.”
Tests were administered at the hospital and John said that his family plan to follow up on the results in a bid to established precisely what was put in the drink.
‘ZONKS THEM OUT’
He said: “Tom is still recovering but he said to me on Wednesday night, would I contact the media because he doesn’t want this to happen to his friends or anyone he knows.
“Whatever they put into peoples’ drinks, it just zonks them out.
“I think it is that liquid drug they just lash into peoples’ drinks. But I have heard of people getting jabbed with a needle while out as well.
“I got the impression from Tom that this must have been in a vial and was poured into his drink. Tom is a pint drinker.”
PROLONGED EFFECTS
Some 24 hours after the spiking Tom was still very groggy and had a dreadful headache.
John said: “It is very unlike my son – this would not be something that had ever happened to him before.
“He definitely remembered looking somewhere in the bar and then felt a jolt with his drink. Within 20 minutes he was overcome.
“I think we all; adults, students, men and women, please pay attention to your drink when you are out. Don’t leave it unattended and stick with your pals when you are out.
“Anyone who has a daughter lives in absolute fear that this could happen to them.
“But when it happens to your big, burly son you kind of say, ‘My God, what is going on here. Are they just doing this for the craic and then sitting back and looking on for the reaction?”
