Spiking could be made a specific criminal offence – Patel

The Government is looking into making spiking a specific criminal offence, MPs have been told.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said spiking is a new and “appalling” trend and has asked officials to look at how the Government can prepare an offence that will target the crime directly.

But she warned the public not to “expect an announcement tomorrow” as there is work to be done to understand the phenomenon and its prevalence.

She told the Home Affairs Committee: “I have asked my officials, chair, to look into what we know thus far with NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council), how we can pursue offenders, but also how we can – and you’ll know that there are already a list of offences in terms of drugs that can be applied – but how we can prepare a specific criminal offense to target spiking directly.

“So we are looking into this, absolutely, so we are working towards that, but it doesn’t mean tomorrow, and I’ll be very clear to the committee and to the public that will be watching this: do not expect an announcement tomorrow that will be creating an offence on spiking.

“We still have to understand the genesis, the details, the evidential base, also the prevalence of this too.”

Ms Patel was giving evidence as part of the committee’s inquiry into spiking.

It comes after Jason Harwin, NPCC drugs lead, told the committee in a previous session that the “ideal ask” would be for a specific offence to be created for spiking.

He told MPs: “My personal view is we need a separate offence for it because it highlights the importance of this crime.

“And secondly, for me importantly, it shows the importance that we’ve seen in terms of doing everything we can to stop it in the first place.”