Should pub and club goers worry about drinks getting spiked?

The Nicola Furlong murder trial in Japan once again highlighted the spectre of drinks-spiking. But just how much of a danger is it posing in the pubs and clubs of Ireland, wonders John Hearne

ONE of the most disturbing images to emerge from the Nicola Furlong murder trial in Tokyo was that of Nicola and her friend, passed out in wheelchairs, being conveyed from the lobby of the hotel to the rooms upstairs.

American James Blackston was subsequently convicted of sexually assaulting Nicola’s friend in a taxi that night. Identified in court as ‘Victim B’, the woman said that she blacked out after drinking tequila that Blackston had given her.