NHS apologised to teenager spiked on Glasgow night out

Aimee McDermott was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary after having a seizure outside Kokomo in the city centre.

The 19-year-old, from the Southside, believes she had her drink tampered with in the nightclub after and she claims a drug test allegedly revealed she had ketamine in her system.

Now the NHS have said sorry for “distress” experienced at the hospital after a junior doctor allegedly “laughed” and accused her of not knowing her limits.

Aimee became unresponsive (Image: Sourced)

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Aimee said: “We had some drinks and went into Kokomo. I was feeling good but the next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital.

“I was told I had collapsed choking on my vomit and had a seizure before becoming completely unresponsive for hours. It was so scary.

“When I came round a doctor laughed at me and said I had too much to drink, I felt completely dismissed and like they thought it was my fault.

“My mum and I said we knew it was more than that so reported it to the police the next day. Now it has been confirmed it was ketamine in my system.

“I would never touch that stuff. I am very anti-drug.

"Now I don’t think I will ever enjoy a night out the same way again.

“It is so frustrating to not be believed when you have been through something like this.”

Aimee and her friend were looking forward to celebrating finishing their exams (Image: Sourced)

Aimee is speaking out about her experience after telling the Glasgow Times she just received her drug test results, six months after the night out which was supposed to celebrate finishing her university exams.

She went out with one other friend but blacked out after 12.30am despite not feeling drunk before then.

She claims a bouncer in Kokomo then threw her out abruptly and separated her from her pal who was sent back inside to collect their jackets.

It was out on the street she was helped by two strangers and suffered a seizure, before being taken to hospital.

Her mother demanded a drug test but was told to go to the police, who provided a test which now six months later has confirmed drugs in her system.

Detectives allegedly warned Aimee not to get her hopes up about finding the person responsible as CCTV in clubs can be unclear.

Last week Aimee launched a petition asking clubs to upgrade their systems to stop spiking happening to other victims.

Aimee struggles to enjoy a night out after the incident (Image: Sourced)

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “While we cannot comment on any individual cases, we would like to apologise for any distress Ms McDermott experienced during her time at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

“Clinical testing is undertaken on clinical grounds - such as severely reduced conscious level or unconscious patients where a number of tests including a head CT scan are undertaken.

“If a patient does not display a clinical picture where urine toxicology would add to their management then this would not be undertaken.

“Where there is allegation of spiking and that a crime may have been committed then patients are advised to report this to the police.

“This preserves any chain of evidence and allows forensic (more detailed) toxicology assessment if the police feel this is required.”

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A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3.55pm on Saturday, 16 December, 2023, we received a report of a 19-year-old woman being assaulted by drink spiking at a premises in Glasgow in the early hours of Friday, 15 December, 2023.

“Extensive enquiries were carried out with no suspect being identified. Anyone with any information should contact police on 101, quoting incident 2297 of Saturday, 16 December, 2023.

“People should be able to go out for a night out without fear of being spiked.

"Every report of being 'spiked' either with a needle or in their drink is taken seriously and fully investigated.

“We would encourage anyone who believes they have had their drink spiked or been assaulted in this way to contact Police Scotland on 101 or in an emergency 999.

“Anyone who may have a complaint about how their case has been handled should also come forward and speak to us.”

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Stamp Out Spiking said: “We are sad to say [spiking] does happen a lot however the stats say that there has been only seven people convicted of spiking offences in Scotland between 2018-2020. Clearly something is wrong.”

Spike Aware UK said: “Sadly we've heard this story far too often over the years.

“At this moment in time, how the victim is treated, varies from case to case, region to region and even officer to officer and that's not right!”

Kokomo have been contacted for comment by the Glasgow Times.

You can view Aimee’s petition here.