Five years after four women reported being spiked by injection at two Wind Street venues, people who work Swansea‘s nights are being urged to join the first national conference on keeping Wales safe after dark.
The Stamp Out Spiking Welsh Roundtable and Night Time Economy Safety Conference is on Monday at the Members’ Centre at the Royal Welsh Showground, from 9.30am to 3.30pm. It is free, hosted by Powys County Council with the campaign group, and the organisers say it was set up after reports of young people being spiked at young farmers’ events in Powys.
The speakers are Dawn Dines, who founded Stamp Out Spiking and has campaigned against it for more than 20 years, Hayley Crawford KPM, the former police inspector who created the Ask for Angela codeword in 2016, and Figen Murray OBE, whose son Martyn Hett was killed in the Manchester Arena attack.
The autumn the lids went on the drinks
In October 2021, according to the organisers, four women reported being injected on nights out at two Wind Street venues and ended up in A&E. South Wales Police investigated.
Students led a Girls Night In boycott of the city’s clubs on 27 October that year. Creative Hospitality Group, which runs Peppermint and Bambu, backed the boycott and brought in free lids for drinks, replacement drinks for anyone worried theirs had been tampered with, and a “we will always believe you” policy for anyone reporting spiking.
Spiking became a specific criminal offence this year under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which received Royal Assent in April. The campaign says Ms Dines’s work helped secure it, and she will set out what the new law means in practice and why she says it needs stronger prevention, reporting and safeguarding behind it.
Ms Dines said: “The mission of Stamp Out Spiking has always been simple: prevent harm before it happens. By bringing together leaders from policing, local government, public health, hospitality and community safety, this Welsh Roundtable will help shape a stronger, more coordinated approach to keeping people safe across Wales.”
Ask for Angela at ten, Martyn’s Law at one
Ms Crawford’s codeword, which lets anyone who feels unsafe on a date or a night out ask bar staff for help without saying so out loud, started in Lincolnshire ten years ago and is now used across the UK and abroad. She will reflect on what it has achieved and why venues still need it.
Ms Murray’s son was 29 when he was killed in 2017. Her campaign, including a 200-mile walk from the Arena to Downing Street, led to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn’s Law, which requires venues that hold 200 or more people to prepare for an attack.
The day includes the Welsh Roundtable itself, a panel of police, councils and health bodies, an “Ask Our Experts” session and time to network. The organisers say South Wales Police and elected representatives from Swansea Council are expected to attend.
They want venue and hospitality staff, taxi and private hire drivers, door staff, police, licensing and health workers, community safety teams, councils, colleges and charities, as well as students, parents and anyone who enjoys a night out.
‘It happens here, across Swansea’
Cllr Richard Church, Powys County Council’s cabinet member for legal and regulatory services, said: “Spiking is a serious issue that no organisation can tackle alone.”
Kirstie Logan-Townshend, a Swansea communications consultant who is an external adviser to Stamp Out Spiking and writes a column for Swansea Bay News, said: “The law has changed, but a law is only as strong as the accountability behind it, and every one of us has a role to play: venues, police, councils and everyone who enjoys a night out. Spiking isn’t something that happens somewhere else. It happens here, across Swansea, and as Wales’s second city we must have a seat at the table.”
Swansea kept its Purple Flag for a 12th year in June, with the Wind Street Code of Practice and a 24/7 reporting line for city centre businesses among the measures the award recognised.
Places are limited and can be booked through Powys County Council’s event page.
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