Charity urges people to watch their drinks at Hogmanay celebrations
The couple from Moffat co-founded the charity after their teenage son died from being spiked.
A man whose 18-year-old son died after his soft drink was spiked is asking people to take extra care with their drinks this Hogmanay.
Colin Mackie from Moffat helped start the campaign group Spike Aware UK with his wife Mandy after his son Greg collapsed at Edinburgh College in 2017.
Tests found the equivalent of five ecstasy tablets in his system - no one has ever been prosecuted.
Colin says Greg's death proves everyone is at risk of having their drink drugged:
“When you go out, look after each other. Stay safe. Remember there are people out there who want to do things like that.
“If you’re drinking a soft drink, don’t assume you’re safe. If you’re in your fifties and sixties, don’t assume you’re safe. It can happen to anyone at any time and any place.”
He adds that there have been previous instances where people have turned to his charity for support after being spiked and the victims have been much older.
“Spiking is so big, it’s not just youngsters that are targets. Older people are targets as well and there are so many people who are of an older age and think ‘No, it’ll never happen at my age’. Well, we had a victim who was 82 years old.”
Anyone can be a target
In this particular scenario, the perpetrators were able to access his bank account and take out a high-figure sum.
It's not just your health that could be at risk...
“They can get into your phone using facial recognition and then they’re into your phone. Nowadays, if they’re into your phone they’re into your life and the chances are the bank app is opened and if it isn’t it is facial recognition again and then they can empty your bank account.
“But they can also get into all your personal details and who knows what they can do from there.”
Keep your drinks safe
If you need to leave your drink to go to the bathroom or even to dance and no one is there to keep an eye on it, place a beer mat or something similar that covers the top of the glass.
Mackie says this will prevent someone from touching your glass as they will not want to risk being seen lifting it off and popping something in your drink.
This applies to house parties as well as pubs and clubs he warns.
“You’ve also got to be careful at house parties as well. You can be quite vulnerable there because people can just add anything to a drink. It’s unfortunate but it’s done many times in many different ways to many different people.”
'Keep a hold of the glass'
If you suspect someone has been spiked on a night out, Spike Aware UK is advising people to keep a hold of the suspected spiked drink for emergency services to deal with:
“If you can, preserve the drink that they were drinking from because A – it can help emergency services detect quicker what they’ve been spiked with and B – it could help the police because they may need to be able to use that as evidence to take forward to prosecute someone.”
The charity is also urging anyone to check out Safer.Scot for further support whether they are the victim or have witnessed someone else being spiked.
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