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‘The whole world was spinning’: Nick Ferrari candidly recalls drink spiking as he shares 'appalling' side-effects
25 November 2024, 09:42 | Updated: 25 November 2024, 09:48
LBC’s Nick Ferrari has opened up about being spiked after Labour announced new training for bar staff in a crackdown on nighttime violence against women.
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Speaking on Monday morning, Nick Ferrari revealed fifteen years ago he attended a party where he believes he was spiked by a person he knew.
It came after Labour announced sweeping plans to train bar staff to protect women from being spiked on nights out at bars and clubs.
Sick and barely able to stand, Nick told his listeners he was helped by his partner at the time.
"God knows what I would have done if she hadn't been there," he said, opening up about the harrowing incident.
Nick Ferrari shares his experience of being spiked
“Around ten or fifteen years ago I was attending a celebration,” he told his listeners.
“There was someone there I had written some disobliging things about in the past, I won’t say any names, but he knows what he did and I know what you did.
“I don't know if you’ve ever had Lymes disease, the whole world starts spinning, everything is spinning to the point that I was holding on to my partner, it was like I was Joe Biden.
“Amazingly, I don’t know how she did it, she persuaded someone to give us a lift back to the hotel.
“By this point, I was pouring out sweat, I was very ill.
“I could not sleep, the whole room was spinning and I have been drunk before, I'm in my 60’s, and this is different, the whole world is spinning.
“I was being ill at a rate you wouldn’t believe in a multitude of different colours.
“If that woman, who I’m no longer with, if she hadn’t stayed up with me, god knows what I would have done.
“The room looked as if Keith Moon had a party, I felt absolutely appalling.
“I didn’t drink coffee for a month afterwards and I didn’t drink alcohol for a week, the only drink I could bear was sweet tea.”
Nick’s emotional account comes after it was revealed nightlife workers will be taught how to stop spiking, help victims and collect evidence to support prosecutions by spring next year.
The Prime Minister will summon police chief constables, transport bosses and industry executives to Downing Street on Monday to urge a co-ordinated response to "this cowardly act".
Labour pledged in its manifesto to introduce a new offence for spiking, but there was no detail in the King's Speech this year about a specific crime, though it promised to ensure an improved police response to cases.
However, Sir Keir reaffirmed his commitment to creating a new offence on Monday, which the Government says is part of its promise to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.
It is unclear when the legislation will be introduced, but ministers and officials are understood to be working to bring it forward as soon as possible.
The Government announced 10,000 workers in the hospitality industry will be trained to deal with incidents by next spring as part of an expansion of a scheme piloted from December.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir will hear from police and industry leaders at a meeting in Downing Street about tactics already being used.
Sir Keir said: "My Government was elected on a pledge to take back our streets, and we will never achieve this if women and girls do not feel safe at night.
"Today, I will bring together police chiefs, heads of industry and transport bosses to demand coordinated action to stop women being targeted, whether they are out with friends or simply travelling home.
"Cracking down on spiking is central to that mission.
"We know it can be incredibly difficult for victims to come forward to report this awful crime, and these cases can be very hard to prosecute. We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "Spiking is a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims.
"That's why today we are taking decisive action to prevent this devastating crime and to crack down on perpetrators, by introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and launching specialist training for thousands of bar staff nationwide.
"People shouldn't have to worry about the safety of their drinks on a night out. These changes are about giving victims greater confidence to come forward, and ensuring that there is a robust response from the police whenever these appalling crimes take place."
Watch Again: Nick Ferrari is joined by Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips | 25/11/24
Speaking with Nick Ferrari at breakfast today, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips told LBC that the aim of the training is to "help spot perpetrator behaviour".
"The initiative isn't just about training bar staff, it's about collecting data," Ms Phillips told Nick.
Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley hit out at a lack of Tory policy aimed at tackling women's safety, with Ms Phillips insisting the Conservatives "spoke a good game" but "they just didn’t do them". Questioning on the cost of such a policy, Nick pushed Ms Phillips on the exact figure, with Ms Phillips confirming a £250,000 budget to train 10,000 staff.
"That’s not the cost of a bottle of Prosecco," insisted Nick.
"I don’t know where you’re buying your Prosecco - you can get it cheeper in Lidl," retorted Phillips.
"You don't train someone one-to-one, you do it in a group environment," the MP continued, explaining the policy would form part of the party's pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.
It comes as Prime Minister is set to summon police chief constables, transport bosses and industry executives to Downing Street on Monday to urge a co-ordinated response to "this cowardly act".
"I came to the Home Office and found quite a lot of things that I’d been told were happening and they hadn’t happened -particularly in the space of women and girls," the MP said.
Adding that she will "crack on" with implementing the new safeguarding measures, “Men bothering women on a dance floor for example. Where women are not in any way taking part in it and ad to intervene and to stop it and also to listen to women. To listen to people and in a spiking environment," she continued.
"Obviously this can happen to anybody. It isn't just a crime that happens to women, but if women come up and report this to bar staff or that they're worried that bar staff respond.”
