Biggar parents whose son died after spiking support police sniffer dog trial
They were joined by Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips in Oxford
The South Lanarkshire parents of a student who died after being spiked at university are supporting the new sniffer dog trial by police in England.
The dogs, with officers in Oxford, will be acting as a frontline defence, patrolling with officers in plain-clothes to detect common spiking drugs.
“I miss him terribly everyday"
Greg Mackie was 18 years old and studying film and television at Edinburgh when he tragically died in November 2017 after his non-alcoholic drink was spiked with the equivalent of five ecstasy tablets.
His parents, Colin and Mandy Mackie, from Biggar, South Lanarkshire, founded the charity Spike Aware after his death and tells us about the devastating impact of spiking.
Colin says, “It’s been really hard and has had a major impact on us.
"It totally changes your life when somebody turns up at 6.10am and says that your son is gone.
"So, that’s why we do what we do because we don’t want someone going through the same thing.”
Mandy said: “I miss him terribly everyday and sometimes we do get bad days where we think why did we do this and why are we still doing it – then this little thing pops up in my head and says ‘mum, you’re helping people and making sure no one goes through what you’ve gone through’.”
Colin also hopes that tougher laws and tactics will bring justice to the perpetrators of these crimes.
He said: “The people who are doing it at the moment who think I can get away with this. Once they realise that they can go to jail, lose their career, lose their friends and freedom – that might change the whole attitude and that’s what we’re looking to see happen.”
"We can't tolerate it in our society"
The campaigners joined Safeguarding Minister, Jess Phillips in her visit to Oxfordshire, as she announced a crackdown on spiking, including nationwide training for venue staff and innovative police tactics.
Speaking to Clyde 1, she said: "It's not even just that the crime happens that is problematic, it's that it hinders people from going on a night out or feeling where they can and can't go.
"Anything where there is a crime that limits the movements of mainly young women, we can't tolerate it in our society.
"Sexual violence, domestic abuse, spiking, stalking... there's so much volume of this crime that it is affecting the lives of women and girls when they're at work, when they're on a night out, when they're at home.
"There is nowhere that this doesn't touch."
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