FOI Spiking (935-2023/24)

Request

Can you please disclose under Freedom of Information laws:
Q1. The number of reports/allegations from complainants claiming they were drugged and raped  from January 2021 to the present day, giving a month-by-month breakdown and in each case specifying the sex and age of the complainant
Q2. The number of reports/allegations from complainants claiming their drinks had been 'spiked' from January 2021 to the present day, giving a month-by-month breakdown and in each case specifying the sex and age of the compainant
Q3. The number of reports/allegations from complainants claiming they had been 'spiked' with a needle, giving a month-by-month breakdown and in each case specyfying the sex and age of the complainant
Q4. The number of arrests and charges for all of the above and the age and sex of those charged.

Response

Extent of Searches to Locate Information

Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision

I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is required to retrieve that information. Whether spiking is a factor in a sexual complaint is not recorded in such a way that can be automatically retrieved. In order to retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to manually review all sexual offences for the timeframe requested to determine which, if any are relevant to your request. This would involve manually reviewing hundreds of reports, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act. 

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, we may be able to carry out a free text search within the sexual offences to determine if there are any results which match your criteria. You would need to provide us with an exhaustive list of the terms you wish to be searched. I must inform you however, a free text search may not provide an accurate picture of the information you seek due to the way in which the searches are carried out. They do rely on an officer inputting the search terms exactly as they appear on your request. Alternatively, we have three offence codes which relate to ‘spiking’. These are Administering poison so as to endanger life, Administering poison with intent to injure or annoy and Administering a substance with intent. We may be able to carry out a free text search within these crimes to determine if there are any results relevant to your request. Again, you would need to provide us with an exhaustive list of search terms. If you wish to discuss this, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.