A bearded man was spotted on CCTV 'attempting to spike a woman's drink' in a busy bar by quick-thinking staff.
The incident occurred at Coyote Ugly bar on Bold Street, Liverpool City Centre, at around midnight, on January 28, when bar worker Beth Mason and deputy manager Rebecca Fitzsimmons were on duty.
The suspect, wearing a red and black chequered shirt, with his hair tied into a bun and with a full beard, was clocked acting strangely around the victim, who was with her partner. Ms Fitzsimmons told the ECHO: "One of the bar staff [Ms Mason] said about this guy acting dodgy around a female customer.
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"We checked the CCTV and saw him sort of lean over and put something in her drink. We ran upstairs and I grabbed her, she was actually with her boyfriend. We said just don't drink any more of your drinks.
"I got the test kits out and it came back with something, although it didn't seem to be working right."
Rebecca, 28, told the door staff at the venue, at which point the man made a run for it down Bold Street. However the door staff alerted nearby police officers in Concert Square, who managed to detain the man.
The Coyote Ugly staff were later praised by Merseyside Police for their timely intervention. Ms Fitzsimmons said police have also collected evidence, including CCTV and the remains of the drink.
When Ms Fitzsimmons looked back at the cameras, she said it appeared the man had been hovering around the woman for around 20 minutes, she added: "She knew he had been there, she told him after about 10 minutes to do one. He started hiding round the back of the games machines. She was sat with her partner on a table at the front of the bar and he was acting dodgy around her there.
"They then went to the bar to get another set of drinks and moved to another table. That's when he leant over, he did it while she was speaking to her partner, the way he did it was really sneaky."
Ms Fitzsimmons said the man appeared to be staring over when she went over to alert the woman, before rushing to the toilets and then fleeing the bar.
She said: "I'm glad we stopped him but it's also scary, we never normally have anything like that in our bar. It usually feels quite safe, one of the female customers recently told me she always feels comfortable here."
Ray Boreham, general manager at Coyote Ugly, said previously: "We want to make sure that everyone has a safe and responsible night out. No one wants to have to deal with the terrible consequences of what might have happened in this instance if the people involved weren't on top of it and looking out for one another.
"I have read in The ECHO that a few incidents of spiking happened last year with freshers, but this is the first time we have seen this in Coyote Ugly. I think it's just something you should be aware of. I don't see it as a growing problem, but it's something that everybody should be on board with.
"We all need to work to make sure this doesn't become a bigger issue moving forward. With our monthly meetings with Pubwatch (a voluntary scheme aimed at creating safe, responsibly-led social drinking environments) it's good that we can have this open dialogue with the police, BID and the local council."
Following the incident, the saloon received a letter from Merseyside Police thanking staff for 'delivering high customer service to a vulnerable victim, paying particular attention to the Violence Against Women and Girls campaign'.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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