Spiking Incidents (675A/23)
Request
Q1) For the previous 5 calendar years please provide the total numbers of spiking incidents reported, plus any figures available on such reports for 2023 (specifying period). Please search for this data by means of keyword searches of MO codes, using the terms ‘spike’, ‘spiking’, ‘spiked’, and crimes alleged under the following Home Office codes: –
- 005/10 Administering poison so as to endanger life
- 005/24 Use of noxious substances or things to cause harm and intimidate
- 008/02 Administering poison with intent to injure or annoy
- 088/05 Administering a substance with intent
Please could you provide this data broken down by year.
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 – latest available data
Q2) For the reported crimes above, please state the number of cases referred to the CPS for a charging decision, and the number of convictions.
Please could you provide this data broken down by year.
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)
Q3) For each year please provide number of cases where a sample from the alleged victim was sent for forensic testing Please could you provide this data broken down by year.
a) 2018
b) 2019
c) 2020
d) 2021
e) 2022
f) 2023 (including latest available data)
Q4) Finally can you please attach MO codes from Jan 1st 2023 for spiking-related offences? I accept redactions may need to be made to remove personal information.
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see attached). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fees regulations for the remainder of the request.
REASON FOR DECISION
Please note that researching each individual case would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12). In relation to question 3, we would need to conduct a manual review of all the relevant records in order to locate and retrieve this information. If each of the 414 records took 5 minutes to review that would equate to in excess of 34 hours and would exceed the FOI time limit.
The cost of compliance with the whole of your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond, i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information would exceed the appropriate costs limit under section 12(1) of the FOI Act 2000. For West Midlands Police, the appropriate limit is set at £450, as prescribed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004, S.I. 3244.