Labour calls for drink-spiking to be specific criminal offence

Labour Party justice spokesman Aodhan Ó Ríordáin has called on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to make the spiking of drinks a specific criminal offence.

The crime is currently covered under poisoning legislation with a potential penalty of three years’ imprisonment.

Mr Ó Ríordáin told Newstalk Breakfast that spiking a person’s drink with the aim of disabling them to commit a sexual offence was different from trying to poison somebody and should have a longer sentence. Spiking should be a stand-alone offence with a sentence of 10 years, he said.

The Labour Party raised the issue with the Minister by means of an amendment that explained the crime was currently dealt with under poisoning legislation, he said.

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“We would think that it’s very different to spike somebody’s drink to try to disable the person in order to commit a sexual offence. This is very different to trying to poison somebody.

“The Minister, in fairness, she did reflect on what we were saying – we didn’t push the amendment at the time. She did accept that the penalties for poisoning doesn’t really equate with what we’re talking about in terms of spiking.

“We’re going to pursue it and hopefully the Minister will have some reflection with her officials and come back, and we can work together on it,” Mr Ó Ríordáin said.

The Labour spokesman said this would not see a “softening” of sexual assault prosecutions as there would be a separate offence for sexual assault or rape.

“There’s a different dynamic when somebody deliberately goes into a nightclub or a social setting, identifies somebody, interferes with their drink, uses a substance in order to effectively disable them and then to exact an assault on them. That is a very different, premeditated type of offence that we think needs to be stamped out”.

Legislation needs to catch up with the times, said Mr Ó Ríordáin. “We have an old law that deals with very new situations, and dealing with it under poisoning legislation really does reflect ... that we have an archaic way of dealing with very new situations.”