SEX CRIME OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Police Chief Warns Men And Women Are At Risk From Date Rape Scourge

THE policeman who led the study into date rape last night branded it the
sex offence of the new millennium.

Peter Sturman's report revealed how rapists arm themselves with pounds 1
pills which they know will leave their victims defenceless.

And he warned that both men and women anywhere could be victims.

Sturman's team interviewed 123 male and female victims, piecing together
the scattered fragments of memory of their ordeals. They found that almost
half had fallen victim to drugs slipped into their drinks in pubs.

In some cases, however, drugs had been hidden in milk and drinking chocolate.

Other victims had fallen prey to attackers at private parties and even on
aeroplanes.

The Sturman report also found that 70 per cent of victims knew their attacker.

According to the findings, one in five victims are students, although the
largest group of victims are women in their 30s, many recently divorced or
separated and looking for a new relationship.

Detective Inspector Sturman's report calls for an overhaul of the
44-year-old law used to prosecute offenders - the Sexual Offences Act of
1956 - and urges "a new look at sexual assaults through 21st- century eyes".

The report also urges police to take all complaints seriously, no matter
how bizarre the allegations seem.

The report warns: "The allegation that appears to be bizarre may be
evidence of an attack by a very experienced, serial offender."

The report was welcomed by the Roofies Foundation - the only dedicated
support group for victims of drug-induced date rapes.

Set up two years ago by a solicitor who had fallen victim to a date rapist,
it takes its name from the street name for the drugs used to overpower victims.

Chief executive David Rhodes said he hoped the Sturman report would make
the Government, police and courts take action.

He said: "Drug-induced rape has no age or gender barrier. Everyone is at risk."

In the last two years, 3000 people have been victims of drug-induced rape
in the UK - 237 of them in Scotland. The vast majority are women.

But Mr Rhodes believes the figures are a gross underestimate. For every one
rape reported it is thought five are never highlighted.

The Government has already tried to stem the availability of the drugs
commonly used by rapists - in particular, rohypnol.

But Mr Rhodes said as many as 20 drugs had been identified in victims, a
figure supported by the Sturman report.

Mr Rhodes said: "It could be anything in your medicine chest. You can do it
with the sleeping tonic Nytol - it's that widespread.

"There is evidence these drugs are being secretly developed by drug barons.
We have heard of one that was an aerosol spray that can be absorbed into
the skin."

The drugs are usually used to spike drinks and, within 20 minutes, leave
the victim in a trance-like state which appears as drunkenness. The victim
looses their inhibitions, leaving them open to abuse, sexual assault and rape.

Mr Rhodes said there was also a growing trend in victims being used to
produce pornographic photographs and videos which are then distributed
through the Internet.

The Roofies Foundation is now calling for Government research into the law
which it claims cannot cope with the crime.

Mr Rhodes said: "We want the Crown and police to treat a drug rape victim
as they would a murder victim - a silent witness.

"Then the question of a victim's reliability would never come about and we
could get some convictions."

The Foundation also wants drug companies to finance research into the
medical and psychological affects of drug rape attacks.

The Sturnam report made 71 recommendations, among which were calls for life
sentences for offenders and consecutive sentences for multiple offenders.

It also urged that 24-hour sexual assault treatment centres be set up where
victims can receive medical attention, counselling and make a police
statement under one roof.

Mr Rhodes has welcomed the Sturman report, but demanded urgent action in
response to its findings.

He said: "We are delighted that, at long last, someone in power has
acknowledged this crime exists. Now we need action.

"We have some very damaged people out there and we need to know how to help
them."

THE VICTIM

NINA Richards, 33, was raped last November after her drink was spiked with
what police suspect was the date rape drug Rohypnol.

Her attacker has never been charged due to lack of evidence.

Nina, who runs her runs her own PR agency in London, recalled: "I was
having a drink with a client after a business launch in the West End. I'd
had a couple of glasses of champagne at the launch and a vodka on ice. It
was just after midnight.

"A couple of guys walked over and started chatting. I noticed one of them
was wearing really gawky square-framed glasses .

"I had just started my second vodka when I went to the loo. I remember
looking at myself and feeling a bit woozy.

"I returned to the bar. It was 1am. The only knowledge I have of the seven
hours that followed is footage from security cameras shown to me by police.

"My next memory is of coming to in a hotel bedroom just after 8am. I was
lying face down and naked. I couldn't move.

"Somehow, I managed to heave my body over so that I was on my back, the
whole time my mind racing as I tried to work out what was going on.

"I caught sight of a man, naked, across the room. He was fiddling with
something - with hindsight, I think it was a video camera. It was clear he
had already had sex with me, yet I had no idea who he was.

"The guy called over to me asking me if I had a hangover. I asked if I
should have and he said that he had saved me. I didn't ask how or why.

"I was incapable because I felt so off my head again. At that point, he
calmly walked back over and raped me again.

"I had no sense of who he was or what he looked like. I just knew he was
male and on top of me. There was no sensation - no fear or panic.

"Afterwards, he got dressed and asked me for my phone number. It took me
five attempts to write down the correct one and my hands shook as I wrote.

"Finally, he put on his glasses - it was only then I recognised him as the
man with the odd specs from the bar. After he'd gone, I still felt very
groggy, but got myself dressed and got a taxi home.

"That afternoon, I spoke to an old boyfriend I was due to meet for dinner.
I explained how weird I was feeling and told him about the incident in the
hotel room. He said he was almost certain I had been drugged and that I had
to call the police.

"But what would I tell them? That I had woken up feeling weird in some
strange man's hotel room and then let him have sex with me because I felt
too out of it to protest?

"But in the days that followed, I was violently ill as the drug worked its
way out of my system. A friend persuaded me to go to the doctor and once
there, I broke down and explained what had happened.

"He ran blood and urine tests, but it was just too long after the event -
there was no trace of the drug left. On examining me, though, he said I had
bruising consistent with a violent assault.

"That evening, I returned home to find a message from the man himself. He
said 'Hi Nina, it's your attacker. Give me a call.' He also left his mobile
number.

"I contacted a group called The Roofie Foundation - the street name for
Rohypnol - which helps victims of drug rape. They told me to call the
police immediately, which I did.

"Three CID officers arrived and began to interview me. They took me to the
station to be examined and take a statement.

"They later showed me video footage taken from the hotel the night I was
attacked. However weird the experience had been up to then, it suddenly got
a whole lot scarier.

"I have since learned that there a film has been put on the Internet of me
from night I was raped.

"The police tracked him down and interviewed him about the matter. He
admitted sleeping with me and claimed I was a willing participant.

"I was devastated. But while the police have believed my version of events
all along, they are totally hampered by the lack of forensic evidence.

"The case has been left open and now all I can hope is that one day he is
caught and brought to justice."

THE DRUGS:

ROHYPNOL: A tranquilliser similar to Valium, but 10 times more powerful. It
was designed for people with serious sleep disorders. but began being used
in sex attacks three years ago.

The drug is odourless and tasteless when slipped into drinks and is easily
soluble. It also accelerates the affects of alcohol.

It is sold on the street for just pounds 10 for 10 pills. A two milligram
dose can put a person into an excited, agitated and uninhibited state,
leaving them with no recollection of events.

GHB: A common drug in the underground scene. Developed as an anaesthetic,
outlawed as a hormone stimulate, it is now a clubbers' drug commonly known
as "liquid ecstasy". Comes as a liquid in small plastic containers similar
to hotel shampoo bottle. There are about nine hits per pounds 10 bottle.

ZOPLICLONE: A tranquilliser used for insomniacs, it induces a hypnotic
state in users. Usually in pill form - although it can be crushed into a
powder - it can be recognised by a bitter aftertaste Researchers at
Ninewells Hospital in Dundee recently urged people using the drug not to
drive after evidence that use contributed to car accidents.

KETAMINE: Known as K, Special K or Vitamin K, Ketamine is most commonly
used as a veterinary anaesthetic. Easily soluble, it takes a rapid effect
on the user, effectively paralysing the victim's mind for about 30 minutes.