Man arrested after woman 'fell unconscious' from puffing on vape she was offered at festival
A man has been arrested after a woman 'fell unconscious' at the Isle of Wight festival after smoking a vape.
Police were called to the scene when a woman named Chloe fell ill at the festival site on Saturday (17 June).
Chloe was attending the festival with her brother William and her girlfriend Natasha Ward.
An older man was said to have given Chloe, 26, a vape which may have been poisonous.
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Hampshire Constabulary has now revealed that a 51-year-old man has been arrested 'on suspicion of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent'.
A spokesperson said: "Officers investigating the circumstances surrounding a woman becoming unwell at Isle of Wight Festival have made an arrest.
"It was reported to police that a 26-year-old woman needed medical assistance after she used a vape that was offered to her by a man at the festival on Saturday.
"Following inquiries, a 51-year-old man from Rochester, Kent, was arrested in Kent on suspicion of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent. He remains in custody at this time."
Natasha, from Southampton, wrote on social media: "It was the worst 24 hours of my life.
"Having approached Chloe and Chloe's brother Will in one of the food queues, [a man] was encouraging Chloe to try some of his vape.
"Chloe doesn't vape or smoke and has never done drugs in her life, but was duped into taking a puff in this situation.
"Within a minute she was in and out of consciousness, unable to speak or move any part of her body and fitting with her pupils constricting to pinpoints and then dilating to 7s."
Natasha went on to say she had 'never experienced anything like it' before criticising the festival for how they were said to have handled the situation.
An Isle of Wight spokesperson told LADbible: "We operate a zero tolerance policy for anyone attempting to bring drugs to the festival and have robust systems in place to deal with anyone who attempts to do so.
"This was an isolated incident dealt with quickly and professionally by all teams on site and no further reports of this nature have been recorded.
"Our event medical team employs a wide range of appropriately qualified healthcare professionals.
"These fully trained individuals work 24 hours a day across our medical facilities on site.
"Regarding the incident reported on social media, we are confident the team dealt with it in a timely manner, with an appropriate medical practitioner on site within 5 minutes and the patient's condition assessed as non life-threatening and subsequently transported to the on-site hospital.
"The safety and wellbeing of attendees is our utmost priority and alongside our partners in the police, security and medical teams, we work incredibly hard over the festival weekend to ensure everyone is looked after."
Anish Vij