DS19 needle spiked (roofied) on first night at university *edited by MNHQ

[Fraida]

Just sharing as I am so upset - dropped DS at halls university yesterday as he starts his first year. He went out last night and I got a call from the police at 1am saying they found him unconscious in the street (lesson here is make sure you have your emergency contact installed in your phone as that is how they called me). Took him to A&E and urine test etc showed traces of Rohypnal in system and evidence of a needle puncture wound on shoulder.

DS called me and apparently (he was in a gay club) a man in late thirties and early forties was hitting on him and he pushed him away. The last thing he remembers is feeling like he had been punched on his arm.

Police have been great and investigating but said it’s highly unlikely that they will find the perpetrator 😡However they will review CCTV footage and speak to the club. I’m just so upset and angry for him and needed to share.

Totally, this group is historically very vulnerable but also as you say suffering from deeply ingrained prejudices. I am proud of my son for reporting it officially, even if nothing comes of the investigation - and I really hope it does - at least it is on record in case similar incidents are reported but also to build a profile of the sorts of people targeted.

I'm so sorry other posters are forcing you to defend your original account, absolutely outrageous 😫

That’s so scary!

Please let the uni and club know so they can post on SM and spread awareness.

I hope he gets caught and arrested asap!!

What is the matter with you

@TonTonMacoute Im so sorry OP, we forget to remind our boys that they can be vulnerable too.

No, no one forgets that. Parents tell their sons to be careful just as they tell their daughters to be careful.

The only people who think that boys are somehow magically immune when they go outside are people who have no contact with boys/men and have no insight into their lives.

Isn’t it entirely normal to go out to pubs and bars with people you’ve just met when it’s your first nights/days at university?

My goodness how awful - I hope you are not all too traumatised by it and your son recovers OK.

I must admit I had no idea this type of spiking was so prevalent until this thread so thank you for sharing. I will be having a conversation with my teens later.

This is terrifying. I want my DS to have a good times hen he starts uni in a couple of weeks (as well as working hard!).

young people shouldn’t have to worry about these perverts. I wasn’t aware of this danger.

Students do need to be careful in new surroundings and bars.

I'm genuinely not being snarky, and while yes you can keep an eye on your drink and cover it - how do you take measures to defend against being injected with something? Just never stand within arm's length of anyone?! (I mean that sounds very attractive to me as I'm not keen on crowds, but it's fairly unlikely in bars!)

OP you have my sympathies and just thankful that it wasn't worse.

Needle spiking wasn’t something that had crossed my mind really - have had the usual conversations with my children about spiking drinks, not accepting drinks from strangers or leaving them out of sight etc etc. Having read up on this today the only piece of advice that might be worth sharing is wearing dark clothes in clubs as it’s harder to see your limbs and outline of body shape. As well as wearing thicker materials - but knowing how hot these places get the latter is probably not practical.

Think the bottom line is you can reduce but not obliterate every risk 😞

Definitely a new fear unlocked for us all.

So sorry to hear that happened to your son, especially on his first night out in a new town. Glad you were contacted promptly. DS has just graduated and it seems spiking when freshers are out is sadly common. He knows a couple of people it happened to, one admitted to hospital. One club had a few needle incidents and for a while had a metal detector at the door but it went after a few months. We've all just got to reinforce never leave a mate (male or female) behind.

I think the poster was just trying to raise awareness of increased risk going out when you’ve just arrived & nobody knows you. But as the OP clarified, he was with old school mates, and of course even if he hadn’t been that still wouldn’t remotely excuse what took place.

Patronising, much?

Of course we warn our sons, but the crap people get on here if they dare say they are worried about their sons.

@TonTonMacoute Of course we warn our sons, but the crap people get on here if they dare say they are worried about their sons.

What I generally find is that it's people claiming that sons are never warned. They tend to be people who do not speak to men and have no experience with boys/men in their lives.

No...

@MrsBucketHatNo. Not first night. My DDs had talks etc from hall staff and a meal. Lots of events starting the following week but they didn’t go to a bar on their first night. They waited for organised events. They waited to work out the cheapest deals! Not a Saturday night. Seems very quick to go to a gay bar. This is a very early start date too.

Not wanting to derail the thread but it is a common term.

OP

Is there someone to give you a hug? And your DS?

I don't think there is anything I can say OP other then how awful.

If this is an older gay man (and it might not be) he probably goes to the club regularly and that increases the chances of him being found.

That’s your experience but the vast majority of students go to bars and clubs (gay or not) on the first evening . As they should and be able to have a good time without some one sticking a needle in them. It’s incredibly sad that this happened to OPs son and I hope he’ll be ok and enjoy his uni experience.

( never heard of spending the first evening with halls staff or talks going on but guess some unis do 🤷🏻‍♀️)

So sorry this happened to your son, and I hope it doesn’t spoil what should be an exciting year for him. There was a whole episode of 24 Hours in A and E devoted to this happening in Nottingham, and it really opened my eyes to it. My YP is off to uni at the weekend, but apart from being aware of it, and trying to stay in groups, it seems to be harder to avoid than even drink spiking.

That's disgusting. Absolutely disgusting! They could have killed him. He could have hit his head as he went down. He could have overdosed or had a reaction. The police need to be taking this extremely seriously and fully investigated.

@Pearl69 Catered halls might be different plus bars a bus ride away. Plus DDs not desperate. They also wanted to check out people they didn’t know and only met a few hours earlier.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. DS is recovering well and has his boyfriend down to visit for a few days which no doubt will help.

Police have requested CCTV from club and the surrounds as well as taken a statement from my son - they have signposted him to specialist support. The university has also been great with their wellbeing service reaching out to offer a meeting and ongoing support.

So glad to hear this @Fraida , the poor kid. Good to hear the authorities are taking it seriously. 💐 for you all