Spiking to be a dedicated offence in Northern Ireland
Date published:
Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has introduced legislative consent motions which will see new offences and amendments to offences introduced in Northern Ireland.
Some provisions of the Crime and Policing Bill will now be extended to Northern Ireland including a new provision making spiking an offence.
The Minister said:
“Spiking is a despicable act that leaves victims feeling violated, vulnerable and confused. Whilst spiking can happen to anyone, it is predominately an attack against women and girls, and one which often goes unreported. I hope by making spiking an offence, it provides additional reassurance and protections to women and girls and will give victims the courage to report attacks to the PSNI.”
The Minister brought forward a legislative consent motion today in the Assembly which will see provisions for Northern Ireland included as part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
The Bill is wide ranging and supports the delivery of the UK Government’s Safer Streets Mission to halve knife crime and violence against women and girls in a decade and increase public confidence in policing and the wider criminal justice system. It gives police further powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, crime and terrorism.
As well as the creation of a new spiking offence, other measures to be extended to Northern Ireland are:
• an offence of cuckooing
• an updated offence of possession of advice or guidance relating to the creation of child sexual abuse images
• strengthening and streamlining the current sex offender notification requirements (’sex offender register’)
• an offence of spiking
• an offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm
• Offences relating to electronic devices for use in vehicle theft
• Reforms to the confiscation of the proceeds of crime
• Proceeds of civil recovery: costs and expenses
• Implementation of international law enforcement information sharing agreements
• Criminal liability of bodies corporate and partnerships where senior manager commits offence (Identification Doctrine).
Separately, the Minister also brought forward a legislative consent motion to have four measures in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill extended to Northern Ireland. These include:
- Supply of trailer registration information
- Two offences relating to articles for use in serious crime
- An offence of breach of an Interim Serious Crime Prevention Order
The fourth measure is the responsibility of the Department for the Economy and relates to validation of fees charged in relation to qualifications.
The Minister concluded:
“It is, of course, my preference to legislate for devolved matters through the Assembly. However, the extension of the provisions will ensure consistency across the UK in tackling certain types of criminality and provide important safeguards for victims.”
Notes to editors:
1. The Crime and Policing Bill was introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025.
2. It contains a mix of excepted and reserved measures, some of which apply or are extended to Northern Ireland; and some matters which are transferred and therefore require the Assembly’s legislative consent.
3. Crime and Policing Bill Provisions -
- Cuckooing - whereby criminals take over the home of another person without their consent to use it for specified criminal activity, if certain conditions are met. The creation of this offence will ensure there is a mechanism in which to prosecute those responsible. It will also improve the identification and safeguarding of victims who no longer feel safe in their homes.
- New offence of spiking - the Government is repealing sections 22-25 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and replacing sections 23 and 24 with a single administering a harmful substance offence, including by spiking. The aim being to increase public awareness that spiking behaviour is illegal and encourage victims to report incidents to the police.
- Paedophile manuals - Possession of advice or guidance about creating Child Sexual Abuse images. This amends the current offence of possession of a paedophile manual contained at section 69 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, which extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The current offence criminalises possession of any item that involves advice or guidance about abusing children sexually, but explicitly excludes advice or guidance related to pseudo-images. The new provision will close a loophole in this offence by extending the definition of the current section 69 offence to capture possession of guidance on producing AI generated child sexual abuse material.
- Management of sex offenders – this seeks to strengthen and streamline the current sex offender notification requirements contained at Part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The requirements are more commonly referred to as the ‘sex offenders register’ and are automatically applied to offenders convicted of, or cautioned for, a specified sexual offence. They form an essential part of offender risk management and are considered as an invaluable tool for the police, in conjunction with the other public protection authorities, to manage the risk of sexual harm that an offender presents whilst in the community – practically, they enable the authorities to know the whereabouts of relevant offenders where they can respond to any matters arising as quickly as possible.
- New offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm - replaces provision in the Online Safety Act 2023 with a broader offence to cover all means by which serious self-harm may be encouraged or assisted, including by any means of communication and in any other way.
- New offences relating to electronic devices for use in vehicle theft – criminalises the possession, importation, manufacture, adaptation, supply or offer to supply and possession of electronic devices, such as signal jammers, signal amplifiers and devices used to access a vehicle’s wiring system, to commit a relevant offence such as stealing a vehicle, stealing anything in a vehicle or taking a vehicle without authority.
- Extensive reforms to the existing confiscation regime for proceeds of crime under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 which aims to improve the process for making confiscation orders, ensure the fairness and transparency of the confiscation regime, and optimise the enforcement of confiscation orders.
- Proceeds of civil recovery costs and expenses - Costs protections in relation to proceeds of crime in civil proceedings for enforcement agencies – this mirrors the approach taken in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 which amended the unexplained wealth order provisions.
- Implementation of international law enforcement information sharing agreements – these clauses will enable sharing within agreemenst yet to be made with oversees partners to facilitate mutual assistance in criminal investigations.
- Identification Doctrine - Criminal liability where a senior manager commits an offence whilst acting in the scope of their actual or apparent authority for all crimes, known as Identification Doctrine Reform. This replaces the provisions in the Economic Crime Corporate Transparency Act 2023 which is limited only to economic crime.
4. Border Security. Asylum and Immigration Bill Provisions
- Power to acquire information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s trailer registration scheme – provides for information held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on UK-registered trailers to be shared with law enforcement in real time.
- Two new offences relating to articles for use in serious crime - this includes possession of a specified article that will be used in connection with any serious offence; and also importing, manufacturing, adapting, supplying or offering to supply a specified article where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the article will be used in any serious offence.
- Breach of an Interim Serious Crime Prevention Order – extends the offence to all jurisdictions of the UK to maintain the integrity of the offence and ensure enforcement.
- Validation of fees charged for the UK National Information Centre.
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