A Huntingdonshire woman has recalled the terrifying moment her drink was spiked while on a night out in St Neots as shocking new figures reveal the scale of the issue. 

Zoe Brennan, from St Neots, has been spiked twice in the last eight years and vividly recalls her first time when she was just 19. 

The 27-year-old, who is calling on harsher punishments for those caught drink spiking, said she collapsed shortly after she was bought a drink by an unknown man. 

An exclusive investigation by this newspaper found just one report of drink spiking resulted in a charge in the last five years. 

According to a Freedom of Information request, Cambridgeshire Constabulary received more than 350 drink spiking reports between 2019 and 2024. 

Figures show that of the 359 reports received by the force, 261 were from female victims, 73 from male victims while 25 cases did not specify a gender. 

Huntingdonshire saw 28 reports of drink spiking across the five-year period, with Cambridge recording the highest number of alleged offences. 

Ms Brennan told The Hunts Post: "The first time I was spiked was the worst and occurred in what used to be The Priory in St Neots. 

"I had barely anything to drink before I got bought a drink from a man at the bar, after talking for a short while he asked me to go for a walk.

"I started to feel a bit unwell, so asked my friend to go to the toilet. Once inside a cubicle, I collapsed and felt paralysed across my whole body.

"While this was happening, the man who bought my drink was asking others in the bar where I had gone, getting agitated and annoyed that I hadn't come back yet."

Ms Brennan said the effects of feeling paralysed lasted "for as long as I can remember" and continued to feel sick the next day. 

Police were notified of the incident and Ms Brennan provided a statement, including the name of the alleged perpetrator. 

By the time she had been tested the drugs had left her system which, combined with a lack of usable CCTV footage, saw the case dropped. 

Across England and Wales, police received 6,732 reports of spiking in the year ending April 2023. 

CEO of The Talk About Trust Helena Conibear said the lack of drink spiking prosecutions has to be addressed. CEO of The Talk About Trust Helena Conibear said the lack of drink spiking prosecutions has to be addressed. (Image: The Talk About Trust) The Met police said reports of drink spiking increased 13 per cent in July to December 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.

CEO of The Talk About Trust Helena Conibear said tackling drink spiking in the region required a "joined up approach" to better support victims.

She said: "The police have made great strides since 2021 in training officers to be proactive in supporting victims, ensuring victims are tested, doing preventative work in towns and cities and among students and making it much easier to report spiking.

"The shocking lack of prosecutions though has to be addressed and improved drug testing should help with this.

"If victims come forward quicker and pubs and clubs help secure footage, ensure their staff are vigilant and observant and keep any drink that may have been spiked there should be zero tolerance among us all."

It comes after the Labour government announced it would introduce a new law making spiking a specific criminal offence in the King's Speech in a bid to protect victims.  

In December, the Home Office said it would amend the Criminal Justice Bill and update the Offences Against The Person Act 1861 to make clear that spiking is illegal after mounting pressure. 

Detective Inspector Lindsay Harbour said the force took all reports of drink spiking "very seriously" and will bring prosecutions when it has evidence.

Detective Inspector Harbour said there can often challenges in securing evidence in cases of drink spiking. Detective Inspector Harbour said there can often challenges in securing evidence in cases of drink spiking. (Image: Cambridgeshire Police) She said: “Our priority is to keep women and girls safe across Cambridgeshire and we will be doing a lot of work around the night-time economy in the run-up to Christmas, with patrols dedicated to spotting and acting against predatory behaviour in cities and towns.

“We also want to prevent spiking and recently we launched a campaign to raise awareness – particularly among students - of how to protect yourself and what to do if you believe you’ve been spiked.

“The prosecution statistics are concerning, however, it’s important to note the challenges in securing evidence for a crime where victims often don’t know they’ve been targeted until sometime later."

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