BigTrancer
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Dealers spike drinks at u/18 disco
By Brad Clifton
04jun03
IT was supposed to be a safe haven for schoolchildren to dance to the latest top-40 hits in a friendly environment of soft drinks and high security.
But, the under-18s disco at the Bathurst Panthers' "Roar Niteclub" last Friday night became a parent's worst nightmare when at least 14 children were rushed to hospital after their drinks were apparently spiked with drugs.
A nine-year-old-girl was among the young attendees who became violently ill with symptoms including vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and shortness of breath. She later had her stomach pumped to remove toxins.
The disco was abruptly halted as security officers whisked sick children to waiting ambulances which ferried 10 children to the Bathurst Hospital emergency department, while four other children were transported to hospital by their parents.
The incident has shocked the community and has led to a police investigation amid claims that a youth had tried to sell ecstasy to children at the dance.
Inspector Gary Megay of Bathurst Police said detectives were viewing a security video of the night and were awaiting test results of urine samples taken from the stricken children in an effort to determine what they had ingested.
Inspector Megay said officers had located a plastic bag containing "two tablets of prescription medicine" in a toilet cubicle at the club.
But, several schoolchildren who attended the disco said they had been approached by a youth who was offering "blue ecstasy" for sale – with one teenager claiming the youth spiked the drinks after he was unable to find any buyers for the drugs.
Kelso High School students Melissa Williams and Alison Beadman, both 14, were among those who were hospitalised.
Melissa and Alison had been sharing a glass of cola and had placed it on a table for about five minutes while they danced. Within 15 minutes of finishing the drink, both became violently ill.
"My head started spinning and I was throwing up a lot," Melissa said yesterday.
"It was a sensation I had never felt before. My eyes hurt, everything hurt and I couldn't breathe."
Alison watched another friend fall ill before she too was overcome by the same symptoms.
"My face got hot, I was dizzy and started to shake," she said.
Melissa said she was aware of a person at the dance who was offering drugs for sale.
"My friends were approached by someone who was trying to sell ecstasy," she said.
Fellow Kelso High student Josh Puebla, 14, said he had also been approached.
"This guy, who I had never seen before, goes to me 'I got some blue eccies, want to buy any?' and I went to a security guard and told him and that's when I found out that some girls were sick," he said.
Inspector Megay confirmed police had spoken to two people who had been pointed out by nightclub workers as "standing out from the crowd" but he said the officers were "unable to take it any further".
"If someone has indeed spiked drinks it would have to be under-18s who were participating," he said.
"We are treating it very seriously. You can imagine there are a few irate parents around.
"They are pretty angry that this could occur at a place where they could drop off their kids feeling it would be safe.
"But, the general message is you can't guarantee there won't be some ratbag that might undertake a practical joke that goes sour or deliberately, through some sort of malice, wants to hurt people."
Inspector Megay said there had recently been several reports of drink-spiking in the Bathurst area.
Ironically, a conference dedicated to the problems of sexual assault and drink spiking – which was organised weeks ago – took place at the Bathurst Council Chambers on Monday.
Those in attendance included Panthers spokesman Rob Weaver, who yesterday maintained security at the disco was as high as could be expected without officers conducting body searches.
Mr Weaver was reluctant to concede a drink spiking incident had occurred, but said the club was co-operating with police by providing video footage of the interior of the dance hall.
"We don't know what happened in terms of what caused it and that will be determined by the police," he said.
From: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6541457%5E421,00.html (via news.com.au)
What a fucked up chain of events, I wonder what the full story really is?
BigTrancer
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