Content note: this article contains mentions of spiking

Several students were reportedly spiked at the Slipped Disc club night on the Varsity trip yesterday (9/12). The Varsity trip organisers told Varsity that there were two confirmed cases of spiking by needle on Thursday night and one earlier this week on Tuesday (7/12) at the Blues Bop event.

After Tuesday, Varsity and NUCO, the travel organiser of the trip responsible for keeping students safe, had increased security for the Slipped Disc club night, with paramedics at hand as well. Joe Hilton, Co-President of the Varsity trip, stated that, however, the club security was “not being very helpful.”

Students at Le Malaysia nightclub in Val Thorens, where both events were held, said they first began to hear about the incidents on Thursday an hour after arriving, before 1 A.M. local time, 12 A.M. GMT. The news spread around the club, and on the VarsiTickets and Ticketbridge Facebook groups.

A student said that their friend had “been spiked at [Le] Malaysia with a needle” in a Facebook post published just after midnight local time. An hour later, the author of the post commented that “it has been 3 girls now.”

NUCO was informed at 11.15 pm that a female student had potentially been spiked by needle, following which, stories were posted on the trip’s official Instagram and Facebook pages saying that “We have been made aware of a number of incidents of spiking tonight at Malaysia″ and that “we have increased door searches and have medical staff on hand.” After receiving the report, NUCO told Varsity that “NUCO were controlling the door and only Oxbridge students were in the venue.”

Despite increased security, an hour later, NUCO received another report “of a second student potentially being needle spiked (male).”

Just before 2 A.M., a student posted that “there are now 5 girls we are aware of who have been spiked by injections/drinks tonight,” adding that students should “leave if you can and look after each other.”

According to this timeline, the spiking incidents likely took place at the student club night, before general admission opened at 1 A.M. Hilton said that this suggested that the spiking may have been carried out by Oxbridge students. An anonymous student said to Varsity: “I do not know why there is the presumption that Oxbridge students cannot spike people and it must be locals - this happened early on a student night.”

In a Facebook post, a student said they witnessed a group of “middle aged men with seemingly no relation to the varsity trip” being allowed into the club “with no pat down search (which students were subjected to).” Another student saw “a large crowd of what seemed like locals” trying to get in through the back entrance to the club where there were “no NUCO reps” present.

The two confirmed victims were, NUCO stated, “removed from the venue immediately and looked after by the NUCO welfare team,” and that incident reports were completed and are on file. Hilton told Varsity that one of the students who had been spiked on Thursday is doing fine health-wise but “very shaken up.” According to Hilton, the cases have not been reported to the local police by any of the victims yet.

Women students posted about feeling unsafe on the night out. Girls were reported “putting on long sleeved tops and coats in order to protect themselves,” with one student saying that they felt “terrified.” Some posts claim that more than 5 girls were spiked last night, however, only 2 cases of spiking have been confirmed by the trip organisers.

On prior nights, students had been aggressively pushed and reportedly manhandled by bouncers in the same club, according to a student who spoke to Varsity. Another student told Varsity that the events have been “extremely busy.”

NUCO travel have reportedly “submitted a formal complaint to the Malaysia nightclub around the conduct of their door staff.”

Hilton said that the reports were worrying because such incidents of spiking have never been reported on Varsity before. He clarified that, in the future, beyond NUCO and Varsity security, trip organisers would ensure improved communication with and security in clubs where events are organised.

Updates were made to this article on 10/12 to include comments by NUCO travel.