ONE night last November Peter Critchlow went out for a few drinks to celebrate a friend's birthday. He set off for home in high spirits but never arrived.

For a month no one knew what had happened. Then his body was pulled from the Foss.

This sad discovery answered one question, but prompted many more. Why did he take a strange diversion on his way home to the Groves? How did he end up in the river?

The inquest's verdict was accidental death. It also revealed that Mr Critchlow had amphetamine as well as alcohol in his bloodstream.

This news confounded his family and his girlfriend Dawn Harrison. She said the 25-year-old civil servant never touched drugs.

For nearly a year, Miss Harrison has been trying to make sense of this incongruity. Today she publicly voices her fear that her boyfriend's drink was spiked.

Her suggestion must be taken seriously. Drink spiking is becoming such a major problem that an inventor today launched a device to make bottles tamper-proof.

The most serious cases involve so-called "date rape" drugs which render women incapable of preventing a sexual assault. There are other instances when drinks are spiked supposedly as a practical joke. This is an act of utter stupidity, however.

Did this happen to Peter Critchlow? We may never know. But this tragedy makes clear that drink and drugs can be a deadly combination.

Updated: 09:40 Thursday, November 11, 2004