Spiking in Stafford: 'I thought I was going to die'

Saul Allen believes his drink was spiked with ethanol on a night out in Stafford

Two teenagers say they are terrified to go out after being spiked with drugs.

Eve Keeling, 19, and 18-year-old Saul Allen said they had both been targeted on nights out in Stafford this year.

Saul says he thought he was going to die after his drink was spiked in February and Eve says she collapsed when she was spiked with a needle over the Easter weekend.

Staffordshire Police said spiking was an underreported crime and urged victims to come forward.

Saul had been on a night out with his mum Julie before he collapsed and injured his head

Saul had been on a night out in the town with his mum Julie when he believes his drink was spiked with ethanol.

"All of a sudden, I felt the room was swimming," he said. "Then I don't remember much."

Mrs Allen, who had left a short while earlier, said she had been told her son had collapsed, injuring his head as he fell, and had been given CPR outside a pub.

He was taken to hospital in an ambulance and on the way, Mr Allen recalled being unable to move.

"In my head I was just thinking, 'I'm going to die' because I can't do anything," he said.

Mr Allen said the incident had left him shaken and put him off going out.

Eve Keeling was spiked on a night out over Easter with friends

Eve had returned home from university in London to catch up with friends over Easter. They arranged to go for drinks at different bars around the town and by 22:00 BST she noticed something was wrong.

"One minute I was fine, the next I was on the floor," she said. "I couldn't hold my body weight, I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk.

"Everyone thought I'd just had too much to drink, but a couple of days later I noticed a needle mark on my arm."

Doctors confirmed she had been injected with a dirty needle and Ms Keeling is now awaiting test results to see if she contracted an infection.

Eve found a scab under her arm where she was injected with a dirty needle

"It really affected me," she said. "I'm a really social person, I love to go out and be with my friends but this happened and it's totally flipped everything."

For a while, she said she could not even get out of bed and is now left terrified of going out and even taking the Tube.

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While Eve reported what happened to her to the police, Saul decided not to.

Neither have confidence whoever was responsible can be apprehended.

In April, Staffordshire Police said it had recorded 10 reports of spiking which it said was a "significant decrease" from March, where 23 incidents were reported.

It said the majority of reports, which involved a mix of needle and drink spiking, followed alleged incidents in nightclubs.