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Love Island star Sharon Gaffka has revealed how she ‘couldn’t talk at all’ and was ‘completely unconscious’ after her drink was spiked during lunch with friends in a bar.
The influencer relived her traumatic experience today as the Government unveiled a major crackdown on spikers, with staff to be given new training on how to spot the culprits.
The measures to tackle spiking, when someone puts drugs into another’s drink or directly into their body without their knowledge or consent, come alongside plans to modernise the law to make clear it is a crime.
Ms Gaffka has previously spoken of how she hit her head on a toilet and was found wedged behind a locked cubicle door after her drink was interfered with while out celebrating a friend’s birthday.
She said two male paramedics attended but passed her off as someone who had been ‘over drinking’ rather than a victim of spiking.
Love Island star Sharon Gaffka has revealed how she ‘couldn’t talk at all’ and was ‘completely unconscious’ after her drink was spiked during lunch with friends in a bar
The influencer relived her traumatic experience today as the Government unveiled a major crackdown on spikers, with staff to be given new training on how to spot the culprits
Recalling the incident and addressing the new crackdown on Good Morning Britain today, she said: ‘One of the things that’s really important with the new measures announced today is that you need staff to be able to advocate for people who are in a vulnerable situation.
‘I couldn’t talk at all, I was completely unconscious, and had my friends also been spiked, nobody would have been able to advocate for us.
‘Had there been a test kit made available to me or our friends, we knew which glass it was, we could have taken that drink and had it swabbed.
‘It’s not always obvious. There have been a lot of cases where people have tried to go through the criminal prosecution route and try to use CCTV as a form of evidence and it’s either not been very clear or sometimes venues are too scared to provide CCTV.
‘It’s not always as obvious as someone literally tampering with your drink.’
Ministers had previously come under pressure to make needle and drink spiking a specific offence, but today’s announcement stops short of that demand.
Instead the Home Office sets out a number of practical steps it is taking to protect women, heading into the festive partygoing season.
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Alongside plans to amend the Criminal Justice Bill and update the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, officials said hundreds more door staff will be trained to spot potential perpetrators and signs of spiking.
The Government said it will also invest in research into test kits, while the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) will run ‘intensive operations’ on key weeks across forces in England and Wales.
Ms Gaffka has previously said she used the testimonies from other victims to meet with her MP David Wantage to discuss what she thinks can be put in place to help victims of spiking
People take to the streets with banners following a surge in drink spiking cases in Manchester in 2021
‘Tackling violence against women and girls is a personal priority for me and this Government has shown time and again that we will do what is necessary to keep the public safe,’ Home Secretary James Cleverly said.
‘Spiking is a perverse crime which can have a lasting impact on victims. Our comprehensive new measures are designed to help police and staff in bars, restaurants, pubs and other premises to protect victims and bring more offenders to justice.’
The Home Office also said an online tool will be rolled out to all police forces to make anonymous reporting of suspected spiking easier, with new public guidance to be published.
Ms Gaffka has previously described how she has had her drink spiked on ‘five or six occasions’ since the age of 18.
She said, on one occasion, she was spiked with MDMA but most recently a ‘date rape drug’ was put into her drink when she was out for lunch with friends celebrating one of their birthdays soon after the first lockdown.
By 7pm that day, the reality star was taken to hospital after passing out in a cubicle and hitting her head on a toilet.
Ms Gaffka said her friends went into the bathroom to find her and, after receiving no response, managed to pick the lock to the cubicle door with a pound coin.
She was found ‘wedged between the door and the toilet’ inside the cubicle before the paramedics arrived.
Ms Gaffka said the hospital she was taken to did not test for drugs in her system, but she was advised a week later that she should have gone to the police to be tested.
