An estimated 43,000 people may have been spiked last year in the UK

Up to an estimated 43,000 people may have been spiked by drugs or alcohol in the country in 2021, the Mail has claimed.

Last year, 2,201 people reported to the police in England and Wales they had been spiked.

Only an estimated one in 12 victims reporting their spiking, according to the Alcohol Education Trust.

With this, the actual figure of people who were spiked last year could be much higher – as many as 43,000, MailOnline has claimed, when also accounting for areas of the country where police did not provide data.

There were 670 reports of spiking by injection made to the police in the first term of this uni year, in September until early December 2021.

The number of people reporting being spiked has doubled since there were 925 reports in 2018, to over 2,000 in 2021.

Over the past five years, several thousand closed investigations into spiking resulted in just 130 charges – with just seven being charged last year with spiking someone with drugs or alcohol. This is one in 314 reported cases leading to charge.

Mair Howells, 23, who was spiked in 2020, and has since founded the I’ve Been Spiked campaign, said that the official figures are “just the tip of the iceberg”.

She told the Mail: “I didn’t go to the police because I didn’t believe that they would do anything about it.” Mair has spoken to many other victims of spiking, “very few” of whom she says have reported it to the police.

The Home Office said: “Reports of spiking are extremely disturbing and the police take this issue seriously, with dedicated resource to investigate all reports thoroughly.”

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The head of the police’s response to Violence Against Women and Girls, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, said: “Spiking, both via drink or needle injection, are horrific crimes that have a significant impact on victims and the confidence of people wanting to go out and enjoy themselves, and we are determined to identify and bring those responsible to justice.”

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Spiking happens more at house parties than in clubs, so why does no one talk about it?

• Over 2,600 young people believe they’ve been spiked already this term

• ‘I went from sober to throwing up in five minutes’: Young people’s stories of being spiked

Stock featured image via Unsplash