Broadcaster Kate McCann reveals she woke up on bathroom floor at 4am after her drink was spiked

Broadcaster Kate McCann has revealed she woke up on her bathroom floor at 4am after her drink was spiked by “a group of brazen men” at a London bar.

The Times Radio host said she and her friends were targeted by a group of men who were “so brazen” they “didn’t care who saw”.

Ms McCann, 35, said she and her colleagues had ordered their drinks and started moving to their table when one of her co-workers spotted the group.

She told her Sunday morning politics show: “A friend of mine, a colleague, said ‘I think I just saw someone try to put something in our drinks, and at that point I’d already taken a sip, but we thought, right it was only one sip. Maybe it wasn’t in my drink, I’m sure it will be fine.”

They put all their drinks back at the bar and asked for fresh drinks but unfortunately, it was too late.

Broadcaster Kate McCann has revealed she woke up on her bathroom floor at 4am after her drink was spiked at a London bar (Getty Images)

The journalist said: “Even though I’d only had a sip, it became clear about 20 minutes or so later that I started to feel quite strange.

“I felt very hot, just didn’t feel right. I went to the loo and I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t sit straight, I couldn’t stand straight and I couldn’t really see.”

The broadcaster said she managed to book an Uber and get herself home but said she did not “remember that car journey.”

She added: “I suspect I wasn’t awake for it. And I don’t remember getting into the house. I woke up at 4 o’clock in the morning on the floor in my bathroom.”

Data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), seen by The Independent in September, revealed there were 6,732 reported spiking offences between May 2022 and May 2023 – including 957 needle spiking offences.

Figures showed there were an average of 561 reported spiking offences per month during this period – with the policing body stating the data includes modified vapes and food which have been spiked.

Official statistics on spiking are not routinely published, but in December 2022, the NPCC said that between September 2021 and September 2022 nearly 5,000 cases of needle and drink spiking incidents had been reported to forces across England and Wales, with the large majority (74 per cent) of the victims being women.

However, campaigners have warned the figures are only the tip of the iceberg as many victims do not come forward as they fear not being taken seriously or feel too much shame.

In fact, according to a YouGov poll of 1,690 adults from December 2022, as many as one in every 10 British women, and one in every 20 British men, has had a drink spiked.

According to the charity Stamp Out Spiking, almost all (97 per cent) of those will not have reported what happened to the police, with the reasons given including that victims “didn’t think there was enough evidence” (54 per cent), they “didn’t realise until it was too late” (35 per cent), and they “didn’t think the police would believe” them (29 per cent).

Ms McCann said: “It was a really horrible experience actually. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. But what’s really interesting is, I tweeted about it last night and I was just looking through the number of people who’ve replied to that saying, “it’s happened to me”.

“Or actually, what’s really surprised me is, “It’s happened to my son or my husband”. Quite a lot of men it seems to happen to.”

In a post on X, she wrote: “It was awful and I was lucky. Still don’t understand why they did it. It’s SO scarily common.”

She also described the powerful effects of being spiked, saying: “The one thing I would say about whether people get confused about just being too drunk is that being spiked feels nothing like being drunk – even really really drunk.

“It’s a totally different and really horrid feeling which you know isn’t just alcohol. Like being out of your body.”

From news to politics, travel to sport, culture to climate – The Independent has a host of free newsletters to suit your interests. To find the stories you want to read, and more, in your inbox, click here.