Cautionary tales (spiked drinks/guys)

It is well known that women are vulnerable to the perils of spiked drinks. What is not so well known is that males are vulnerable too. Shortly before we sold the hostel in 2002, there was a strange incident that took several days to solve.

I was woken in the early hours of the morning by yelling and screaming from one of the private rooms. I pulled on a pair of shorts and went to see what was happening. As I left my house, three figures emerged from the main hostel building and ran into the street. I figured they were part of the disturbance but had no time to investigate. The yelling was still going on and something had to be done about it.

I entered the main building and was pleased to see my friend Sean in the corridor. He worked as a geologist’s assistant and stayed at the hostel when on leave. Sean was outside one of the rooms and a torrent of foul language was coming from inside.


We banged on the door and told them to OPEN UP. When nothing happened, I unlocked the door and threw it open. We were confronted by a woman I recognised as a local prostitute. She pushed past us and fled, leaving a fully-dressed young man on the bed. He was making a heap of noise and appeared to be hopelessly drunk. We did our best to calm him but without success. In the end I called the police and the guy was taken away.


I thought that was the end of the matter but it wasn’t. The next day the young man reappeared claiming I had robbed him of hundreds of dollars. He was in a hysterical state and I had no doubt he believed what he was saying. Inevitably, the police were called again.


Days passed and the young man’s mother became involved. With her help, we were able to piece together what had happened. It seems her son was a shy lad who had just finished work on a farming property out west. He arrived in town with his pockets bulging with money and went into a bar where he met some new chums. They spiked his drink and amused themselves at his expense. Their final act was to accompany him back to his hostel room, finding a prostitute on the way. When Sean disturbed them, they fled taking the young man’s money.