Spiking victim who woke up in cupboard feels ‘failed’ by health services

Imogen Turnbow, 23, alleges she had her drink spiked at a pub on the south coast in 2021, leaving her with memory loss.

“I was with a friend and we had bought drinks from the bar and went on the dance floor for about 20 minutes,” said Imogen, a wine bar manager. “They went to the toilet and that is the last thing I remember.

“I woke up in a cupboard in the upstairs area of the pub. I panicked, I didn’t have my phone, I was in the dark and had no idea what time it was. I was stumbling around and in the process and I set off a bunch of alarms. I was missing for five to six hours.”

Imogen followed the steps outlined on the NHS website for spiking victims, but was turned away from A&E. It has not been officially determined whether she was spiked by injection or through her drink as she was refused testing. 

“The nurse was really rude and said they can’t do anything,” said Imogen. I wanted someone to talk to after that traumatic experience but they refused to talk to me and told me to go home.

“I called 111 but the operator was horrible to me. She said I should be more vigilant. I hung up because I was gobsmacked by her response.”

Imogen lost the feeling in one of her legs for two weeks and her periods stopped for three months, which she puts down to the emotional and mental stress she suffered.

Imogen, who feared she could have been sexually assaulted, said: “I was worried that the worst possible thing had happened to me. I did a pregnancy test which was negative.”

The manager of the venue promised to check CCTV footage and inform the bar staff to prevent future incidents.

“He told me the CCTV extension lead had been pulled and there was no footage, which is crazy,” said Imogen. “I talked to one of the door staff and he had no idea about the incident.”

She didn’t report the incident to the police as she felt they wouldn’t believe her, after how she had allegedly been treated by medics. 

Imogen has since campaigned for more awareness around drink spiking, working with Pagoda Security Training and taking part in a podcast with Stamp Out Spiking. She also has an Instagram account, @mybevmyrules, which she uses to raise awareness and provide support.

Sheffield Wire has contacted the NHS Trust involved for a comment.