After reporting the attack to police, a woman who had been injected with morphine in a nightclub had to wait five months for test results.
Becca Collins, 20, stated she was spiked on 30 October 2021 during a night out in Maidstone, Kent.
She didn’t find out until she followed up on her report at the end of March.
Kent Police has apologised for the delay and stated that it intends to learn from the incident.
Ms Collins was assaulted while visiting a club.
Ms Collins was attacked during a visit to a club.
“After 12 o’clock I don’t remember any of the night,” she said, “the next thing I remember is waking up in my brother’s apartment the next morning.
“I felt really unwell, more than just a hangover.
“I thought this has to be more than just alcohol, and I went to have a bath and noticed the mark on my leg that would indicate a needle.”
She reported the incident to Kent Police two days later.
After hearing nothing, she contacted officers in March and discovered the test results, which showed she had traces of morphine in her system, had been sent to the police on 18 January.
The results had not been passed on to her or to the officer investigating her case.
“Initially the police were helpful,” she said, “they passed it over to their team in Tonbridge allocated to deal with spikings, but I think after they realised they wouldn’t be able to put any evidence on someone they did give up on the case.”
The force said it was not unusual for samples to take a number of months to be processed, adding they acknowledged there was some delay in notifying Ms Collins.
Kent Police said it would review the circumstances to identify any opportunities to learn and improve.