A man has been jailed after he spiked a pub goer’s drink with the intention of sexually assaulting him.
Eamon Kelly, 58, was sentenced to two years and four months’ imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to administering a substance with the intent to stupefy to allow sexual gain.
The court heard he was sitting alone at a pub on The Broadway in Ealing on August 29 when he spotted the victim, in his 30s, sat at a table nearby.
The victim told police that Kelly had been smiling at him in an odd manner throughout the evening.
When he finished his drink he noticed two tablets at the bottom of his glass – one was still whole and the other was three quarters dissolved.
The victim confronted Kelly asking if he had put the pills in his glass, but he continued to smile and did not respond. He then confronted Kelly again, which caught the attention of the pub’s staff.
The staff, unaware of what happened, asked Kelly to leave the pub.
The victim then explained the situation to bar staff who reviewed the pub’s CCTV, which showed Kelly removing something from his left arm jacket pocket and dropping it into the victim’s glass.
Staff called the police who attended a short time later and arrested Kelly for administering a noxious substance.
Whilst being searched in custody, a small vial containing what appeared to be crushed tablets was found in a zip pocket.
Thankfully the victim did not require hospital treatment.
During his police interview Kelly admitted that he had crushed the pills many years ago and put them away. He claimed he had found the substances the day before the incident and was “curious” about what would happen if he put them in someone’s drink.
Detective Constable Benazir Bhati, the investigating officer from the West Area’s CID, said: “Kelly had gone to the pub that evening with the intention of drugging someone without their knowledge so he could sexually assault them.
“Thankfully the victim was vigilant and noticed the tablets and alerted staff, which meant officers were quickly able to get to the venue to arrest the suspect and carry out time-crucial enquiries.
“We take allegations of spiking extremely seriously and we will robustly target those who commit this heinous crime.
“We would encourage people who witness anything suspicious when they are out, or believes they have been spiked, to report it to bar staff or the police as soon as possible.”
