Inverness bars, pubs and clubs seeing 'increase in drugs and spiking incidents'

“Very dangerous” spiking incidents are on the rise in Inverness city centre as well as drug use, a security guard manager has warned.

Michael Murdoch is managing director and owner of Highland Security whose team mans the doors of multiple venues across the city.

In recent months, he says, he has noticed a worrying trend.

“Spiking incidents seem to be on the increase,” he said, detailing how his firm has started to train staff in administering naloxone, a drug designed to reverse the effects of an overdose of opioids, sometimes used in spiking incidents.

Mr Murdoch said providing his staff with wider first responder training has also become vital as they cannot always rely on an ambulance making it in time if they are needed.

He added it is mainly females who are the victims of spiking, recalling one incident over Christmas that left one woman “out cold”.

As well as dropping drugs into drinks spiking can also be carried out by injection.

“One of the tell-tale signs is localised pain wherever the injection’s been,” Mr Murdoch said.

“It’s very dangerous because, depending on what drug they use, or how much they put into the drink, it can actually make the victim unconscious. God knows what happens to them then.

“Probably within the last three to four months I have heard about three or four spiking incidents in Inverness.

“It’s very hard to spot, especially if it’s a needle one, because they can just walk past you and quickly (inject you) in your leg and then that’s it.

“They’re getting so good at it, they could be just hovering beside you and within seconds the drug’s been put in your drink without you even noticing it.”

Mr Murdoch also claims to be seeing a more general rise in drug use among revellers including at festival events.

It was reported last month that the majority of young people accessing drug support through a local charity have been seeking help with cocaine use – something Mr Murdoch said reflects what he and his team are seeing first hand.

“It was mainly cocaine and ketamine that the police were finding on the young generation,” he said of the festival experience last year.

Although alcohol is still the main cause of violent incidents on shift, Mr Murdoch said, those high on drugs – “especially younger men” – he said are “getting in the faces” of security staff.

“I’m certainly concerned about the rise (in incidents) and staff welfare – not just the security staff, but the bar staff as well and the glass collectors – everyone basically,” he said.

Police Scotland’s Superintendent Jane Mackenzie thanked the vast majority of festival goers for behaving well, but confirmed that the force made “14 recoveries of personal amounts of drugs” at one of the region’s music festivals last year.

On Mr Murdoch’s assertion about not being able to rely on ambulances arriving quickly enough, a Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “All our calls are assessed to ensure the most seriously ill patients are given the highest priority and our recent statistics show that our median response time for our most serious calls is eight minutes and three seconds across the Highlands.”

They added: “If there are signs of an opioid overdose, naloxone should be administered and any member of the public can complete a short online training course and request that a naloxone kit be posted to them by visiting the Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs website.”

And they said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service give this advice: “In any drug-related emergency, we would encourage the public to follow our TRUST messaging – Take it Seriously, Ring 999, Use first aid skills, Stay with them, Tell us what they’ve taken.