The devastated parents of a university student who they believe died after his drink was spiked have said their son was ‘murdered’.

Greg Mackie, 18, died in a suspected drink-spiking incident while studying Film and Media in Edinburgh.

The tragic teenager collapsed in his halls of residence, and a toxicology report found he had the equivalent of five ecstasy tablets in his system but no trace of alcohol.

His heartbroken mother Mandy Mackie – now a spiking awareness campaigner – said she believed her son was ‘murdered’ after a substance was slipped into his soft drink, but nobody has ever been identified as being responsible.

It comes as the number of spiking cases recorded by Police Scotland has risen rapidly over the past five years, according to STV’s Scotland Tonight which is set to be broadcast this evening.

Since 2023 some 168 spiking cases have been reported to police in Scotland, the broadcaster said, but only nine of those passed onto the Crown Office.

The others were deemed to be lacking in evidence.

Scotland Tonight reported that in 2019 just 44 suspected spikings were reported, but the number increased to 295 in 2021-22.

Colin and Mandy Mackie, the parents of the Moffat teenager who died while in Edinburgh in 2017, have told of their devastation at the loss of their son.

Mrs Mackie told STV: ‘No one’s ever been pinpointed for it. It was always shoved under the table as a drugs overdose.

‘On my son’s death certificate, it says a drugs overdose – but as far as I’m concerned, my son was murdered.’

They were left in disbelief when two police officers knocked on the door in the early hours to inform them their son was ‘dead from a drug overdose’.

Mr Mackie said: ‘Greg would’ve been 25 yesterday and I’ll always wonder what he would be doing now.

‘Would he be married now? Would he still be single? I just don’t know – and that’s the one thing I’ll always wonder as each year comes.

‘What would he be doing now? Where would he be? We’ll never know.’

In Greg’s case police were not able to prove who was responsible so no further action was taken, the broadcaster reported.

But Mr and Mrs Mackie said they felt police did not seriously consider the possibility he had been spiked.

Mrs Mackie said: ‘We ended up doing a lot of looking into things that were going on and finding out things ourselves, because no one was telling us anything. We were just alone – there was no one.’

The couple have since set up a charity, Spike Aware UK, which supports victims of drink and needle spiking and raises awareness of the dangers.

Superintendent Joanne McEwan said Police Scotland continued to ‘investigate reports from people having been ‘spiked’ either with a needle or in their drink’.

She said: ‘We are not always able to determine the reasons why a perpetrator carries out an assault in this way, but would like to reassure you that every report is taken seriously and perpetrators are dealt with swiftly and robustly.

‘People should be able to go out for a night out without fear of being spiked.

‘We are working with a range of partners, both locally and nationally, to ensure licensed premises are safe spaces for all, through the continued delivery of ByStander Awareness training.’

Drinkaware chief executive Karen Tyrell said earlier this year nearly a million people are estimated to have had their drinks spiked in Britain in 2023 amid a terrifying surge in offences.

A planned clampdown on the crime was outlined in the King’s Speech as part of a wider plan by the new Labour government to overhaul the Crime and Policing Bill.

Earlier this year, the Mackie family told MailOnline that some people still saw spiking as a ‘joke’ to be played on people but that the new law gave them hope for others.

Mr Mackie said in July: ‘We’ve spoken to victims who have become withdrawn and no longer trust people or go out, their mental health has been affected,

‘I had one young woman get in contact who said she was on the verge of suicide, and my own son, Greg, died.

‘If we now start having prosecutions, it will be a deterrent – people will see these “Jack the Lad” characters going to prison.

‘Convictions give these pranksters a real reason not to do it.

‘We haven’t seen the details yet but we have been calling for this (new law) as a charity for a long time, and now it looks like it is finally happening.’