Scots spiking victim backs forensic testing drive to bring pub drug fiends to justice

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Police are spending £650,000 on extra forensic testing in a crackdown on spiking cases after Scots victims revealed huge delays.

The force has outsourced the testing of hundreds of extra samples a year to provide forensic evidence in cases where victims are drugged while out in pubs or clubs.The move comes as tougher new measures are proposed to tackle spiking following a surge in the number of people being targeted.One young victim, who waited 10 months for her results after a 34-hour delay in being tested, yesterday said the new testing capacity was long overdue.Jess Insall, 20, told the Record: “Until there is a lot more action on spiking –training venue staff on how to deal with it and ensuring that there is a better connection between the NHS and police service to make sure samples are taken in a timely matter – it is very hard to see how victims will get much justice at all.” The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has awarded a public contract to major forensic services firm Eurofins, spending £662,978 on the toxicology screening of up to 300 more urine samples a year.

They will screen for a wide range of drugs “including those commonly associated with drug- facilitated sexual assault cases”.

The move comes after the delays in Jess’s case and those of other suspected victims were raised in the Scottish Parliament.The accountant, from Edinburgh, was left sick, unable to talk, and “paralysed” when she was spiked on a night out in Glasgow in March 2022.She waited 34 hours to give her sample, which lay in a lab untested until the end of last year.Jess said she had lost all faith in the justice system as MSP Russell Findlay highlighted her case, and others, in November.