Drink spiking laws in the United Kingdom

Context

In the United Kingdom, spiking is the common official term for adding something to a person’s drink or injecting them with a needle without their knowledge or consent. The Home Office distinguishes drink spiking from needle spiking (Home Office report).

The criminal law on spiking differs within the UK: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are separate legal jurisdictions, and each Act of Parliament sets out the extent of its provisions, that is, where they apply (Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 254; Scottish Government consultation).

For a long time spiking has been handled under offences that do not use the word. According to the Home Office, existing offences can be and are used to prosecute spiking, even though some of them use archaic language and are not readily identifiable as covering it. The offence police most commonly use to record spiking is section 24 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which concerns administering poison or another noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy (Home Office report).

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 adds an offence that names spiking. Section 134 replaces section 24 of the 1861 Act with an offence headed “Administering etc harmful substances (including by spiking)” and repeals sections 22 and 23 of that Act. The new offence covers unlawfully administering a harmful substance to another person, or causing it to be administered to or taken by them, with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy; a harmful substance is any poison or other destructive or noxious thing (Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 134). The section does not take effect with the Act itself but on a day appointed separately (Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 255).

Alongside the criminal law, venues across the UK use the Ask for Angela code-word scheme, which a not-for-profit community interest company supports with a national venue pledge and training materials (Ask for Angela CIC).

Regional differences

England and Wales

Section 134 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 extends to England and Wales (section 254). Section 255 leaves commencement in England and Wales to regulations made by the Secretary of State (section 255). The Home Office report on spiking analyses the spiking crimes recorded by police in England and Wales. In the Home Office’s review of the law, none of the police forces that responded reported any difficulty in finding an appropriate offence for spiking (Home Office report).

Scotland

Section 134 does not extend to Scotland (section 254). According to the Scottish Government, spiking can be prosecuted under the common law offence of drugging, which it describes as a broad offence covering all types of drink spiking. Depending on the facts of a case, the common law offences of assault and of culpable and reckless conduct may also be relevant, as may the statutory offence of administering a substance for sexual purposes in section 11 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (Scottish Government consultation).

The Scottish Government states that it has not received the same level of demand for a specific spiking offence as the UK Government. In its consultation on improving protections in the justice system for women and girls, it asked for views on the benefits of developing a standalone spiking offence (Scottish Government consultation).

Northern Ireland

Section 134 also extends to Northern Ireland (section 254). Section 255 leaves commencement in Northern Ireland to an order made by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland (section 255). The Police Service of Northern Ireland states that there is no specific offence of spiking and that suspected cases may be recorded under existing offences (PSNI disclosure). The PSNI runs the Ask for Angela initiative for bars, clubs and other licensed businesses across Northern Ireland (PSNI, Ask for Angela).

How the rules developed

According to the Home Office, police recorded an increase in spiking incidents, both drink spiking and what was then a new phenomenon, needle spiking, and the Home Secretary at the time asked the National Police Chiefs’ Council to review the situation urgently. During the passage of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, the Home Office committed to report on the scale and nature of spiking and to review whether a new, specific offence was needed; the report was presented to Parliament under section 71 of that Act (Home Office report).

In that report the Home Office reviewed the existing law with its criminal justice partners and concluded that existing offences can be and are used against spiking. It argued that introducing a new offence for the sake of specificity would overlap with existing offences and add complexity for prosecutors (Home Office report).

Parliament later took a different route: the Crime and Policing Act 2026 contains the offence headed “Administering etc harmful substances (including by spiking)”. It keeps the elements of the old section 24 offence (administering a harmful substance with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy) and names spiking in its heading (section 134). The offence applies in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, each with its own commencement (section 254; section 255).

Scotland took a different approach. The Scottish Government describes its approach to spiking as longstanding and multi-agency and explains in its consultation how the law in Scotland relates to the creation of a standalone offence in England and Wales (Scottish Government consultation).

For travellers

Official travel advice treats the United Kingdom as one destination. Canada’s advice for the United Kingdom has its own section on spiked food and drinks (Government of Canada), and New Zealand’s advice describes drink and drug spiking as prevalent across the country (New Zealand SafeTravel).

The criminal law behind that advice differs by region. A case in Scotland falls under Scots law, including the common law offence of drugging (Scottish Government consultation). In England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, the Crime and Policing Act 2026 adds an offence that names spiking (section 134; section 254).

Ask for Angela works through participating venues and organisations across the UK (Ask for Angela CIC); in Northern Ireland the police service runs it with licensed businesses (PSNI, Ask for Angela).