A student has opened up after she was involved in a series of spiking incidents while at a charity party in St Andrews.
Police are currently investigating a report of drink spiking at a property on Hepburn Gardens on October 15.
22-year-old Keyona Fazli, says her drink was spiked at the charity event along with a number of other people, four of which ended up in hospital.
The student, who is studying English, said the party was hosted by one of her friends and around 400 tickets were sold for the event.
‘I didn’t think anything was wrong’
Keyona, who is Iranian/American, said: “I took my own drinks. I brought a little bit of vodka which I could shut and a bottle of prosecco.
“We think that it was my prosecco that might have gotten spiked because the vodka had a cap on it whenever I wasn’t drinking it.
“I wasn’t drinking very much either, I was sharing it between me and my friend and there were some points where I didn’t have my eyes on it and I had given it to someone else.
“I didn’t really think twice about that because you don’t expect to go to your friends house and then get spiked so I felt like everything was fine.
“Maybe about two hours into the event, my friend came up to me and said ‘our other friend has been taken home, she was spiked.’
“I remember thinking ‘oh, that’s so bizarre,’ but I kind of got distracted dancing. I didn’t think anything was wrong.”
Keyona said that while on her walk home from the party with her friend, she began to feel strange.
‘I was really scared’
She said: “Usually when I’m on my walk home I’m sobering up but I was getting worse and I kind of started to panic because I was seeing things and hearing things that I shouldn’t have been hearing or seeing.
“Thankfully it wasn’t anything that was super serious during the night but then the following couple of days after I had this intense kind of depression and also such brain fog to the point I couldn’t form sentences properly and I couldn’t process things.
“I was really scared. I think what I was spiked with probably added to my paranoia but it was just really freaking me out.
“At [the] point in the night where I should have been sobering up I was getting more and more intoxicated by something that I didn’t consent to be in my system.
“I think it comes down to that. It comes down to consent and someone spiking your drink is someone who has no regard for what you wish, or your well-being or your safety.”
The 22-year-old said her friend stayed with her during the night to ensure that she was safe.
Police investigation
Later, Keyona was shocked to discover a number other people had been spiked at the same party, with four ending up in hospital.
Keyona said: “My friend whose house it was, they got the police involved immediately after. [I was] not just finding out that I was spiked and my friend was spiked, but finding out that all these other people were spiked.
“I’m terrified to be honest. This was an event at a friend’s house but I also know of a friend who was spiked at another pub. [She] ended up in hospital [and] doesn’t remember a thing.
“I think the fact that there have been so many people recently who have been spiked as well is just so concerning because a lot of the girls who I speak to, even some of the guys, they’re too scared to go out anymore.”
Keyona’s experience follows a chain of other young women who have been victims of spiking in Scotland, with some recent cases reporting the use of a needle being used to inject drugs into them.
A Dundee student recently took to social media to issue a warning to others after she believes she may have been spiked by injection whilst out in Dundee on Monday night.
Last week, another women claimed she had also been spiked by injection at a venue in Dundee, as victims were urged to report incidents.
The incidents have lead to a UK-wide movement, where people across the country have been asked to boycott night clubs in demand for more measures to be taken by venues to prevent spiking.
‘Have decency to leave everyone alone’
Keyona gave her thoughts on the movement but believes the key to the solution lies at the root of the problem.
She said: “The boycott is really important. I think not just women but everyone should be supporting this and I think a lot of people do support this.
“My friends and I were talking about this [how to prevent spiking] and with every kind of possible idea that we’ve all thought of — such as having people checked before they go into clubs — I just think it shouldn’t have to be there.
“I think people should have the decency to leave everyone alone.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We received a report of possible incidents of drink spiking at a premises in Hepburn Gardens, St Andrews, on Friday, October 15, 2021.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
Calls for action: What St Andrews students want done to tackle spiking
