West Yorkshire Police confirm reports of "spiking by injection" in Leeds

West Yorkshire Police have confirmed one report of "spiking by injection" in Leeds City Centre.

The force says the incident is alleged to have happened on Wednesday October 13 and enquiries are taking place.

Detective Superintendent Paula Bickerdike, of West Yorkshire Police’s Safeguarding Central Governance Unit, said: “We understand the genuine concerns that women have around their safety, particularly in the night-time economy, and we remain absolutely committed to doing everything we can alongside our partner agencies to make the county a safer place for women and girls.

“We continue to work alongside partner agencies and licensees to warn and educate people about staying safe on a night out, and we conduct regular partnership operations to keep people safe.”

There's been rising reports of needles being used to inject women in clubs nationwide, with students planning a boycott next week.

The campaign Girls Night In is asking women to stay at home during October and November, in an attempt to put pressure on nightclubs to prevent spiking.

A petition calling for clubs to be legally required to search people for 'date rape' drugs has already collected more than 110,000 signatures.

Home secretary requests urgent update

Police have been asked to urgently assess the scale of drink spiking at nightclubs and parties amid a rise in reports and claims some people have been drugged by injection.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked forces for an update after some said they had seen more spiking incidents in recent months.

Police chiefs have also been tasked by the Commons Home Affairs Committee to urgently provide more information on their assessment of the scale of the problem after reports of incidents in several parts of the country, including Nottingham, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Union of Students (NUS), said: "It's absolutely disgusting that in the past few days a number of students have reported instances of women being spiked on nights out."

Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds described the reports of the "vile act" as "terrifying", adding: "This awful crime needs to be clamped down on without delay."

The chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association Michael Kill said the organisation was "very concerned" about the reports and called on the Home Office to do more to investigate the problem.

Although the industry is working to try to keep customers safe, Mr Kill warned: "The truth is, though, very real challenges still exist.

"We know this is a societal problem, but it is very difficult to say with any real certainty what the scale of this problem is."

Spiking drinks can lead to up to ten years in prison - or even higher if other offences like rape, robbery or another assault has taken place.

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