Police apologise after needle spiking victim waits five months for test results
The delayed results show that the woman was injected with morphine at a nightclub
A spiking victim has received an apology from police after waiting five months for her test results to be presented.
20-year-old Becca Collins was spiked via injection while at a nightclub in Maidstone, Kent, on October 30, 2021.
Ms Collins only received her test results by the end of March which showed that she had in fact been injected with morphine.
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According to BBC News, Kent Police has acknowledged the delay in the report and has said to learn from this experience.
"After 12 o'clock I don't remember any of the night," Becca Collins tells BBC News, "the next thing I remember is waking up in my brother's apartment the next morning.
"I felt really unwell, more than just a hangover.
"I thought this has to be more than just alcohol, and I went to have a bath and noticed the mark on my leg that would indicate a needle."
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Ms Collins reported the incident two days later to the police claiming that “initially the police were helpful," as they “passed it over to their team in Tonbridge allocated to deal with spikings, but I think after they realised they wouldn't be able to put any evidence on someone they did give up on the case."
By March, she did not hear from the police, therefore contacted the officers to finally discover that the test results - which were sent to the police on 18 January - showed traces of morphine in her system.
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At this point the results had also not been passed on to the officer investigating her case.
According to BBC News, the police said that it is not unusual for samples to take a number of months to be processed.
Kent Police also say that it will review the circumstances to identify any opportunities to learn and improve.
Stamp Out Spiking is a charity that offers resources and solutions to help people to stay safe from spiking. For help you can contact the team here.
Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Video and Editorial Assistant, follow her on Twitter