Beer mats test for rape drugs

Beer mats that tell drinkers if their lager or gin has been spiked with a 'date rape' drug are to be distributed in pubs over the next few weeks.

The trial is part of an ambitious plan to use biotechnology to halt soaring numbers of drug rape cases in Britain. Last year, 2,000 women reported that they had been sexually assaulted after their drinks had been spiked, a rise of 60 per cent on the previous year.

The mats will also show if a person has been given amphetamines, cocaine or ecstasy. If successful, the scheme will be introduced throughout Britain.

'Date rape has become an increasingly worrying problem,' said Jim Campbell, chief executive of Sure Screen Diagnostic, which has developed the bio-mat. 'This is an easy-to-use solution that could save a lot of suffering.'

Although most drink-spiking occurs in pubs and clubs, it also goes on at parties, friends' houses or even at work. Victims (of whom 12 per cent are male) lose consciousness and wake with no clear memory of their rape.

Flunitrazepam tablets, known as 'roofies', as well as ketamine and GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) are most commonly used because they are difficult to detect in drinks. Some manufacturers now mix these drugs with dyes - though they remain hard to spot in dark drinks.

However, the beer mats will give drinkers an unambiguous signal of danger.

The scheme's mastermind, Detective Superintendent Andrew Bailey of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, stressed that the introduction of bio-mats would require careful publicity: 'People have to be made aware of the problem and know these beer mats are being put in pubs.'

Disposable dipper to detect "date rape" drug is launched