Sheffield Hallam student injured after incident at ‘unofficial’ Varsity darts match

A Sheffield Hallam University student has spoken out after being injured in an incident at an “unofficial” Varsity darts event.

Tom Wells was injured at the Leadmill on Monday night after a hard plastic cup was thrown at him – opening a gash in his nose.

He also said that when he arrived at Northern General Hospital’s A&E department, there were already four other people there who’d attended the darts match.

He told ShefNews: “From what I saw, a lot of people got hurt. Even just people trying to enjoy the darts and not getting involved with the rest.

“I saw two poor girls get flattened when it started kicking off in the middle, and countless people getting these plastic cups to the head.”

The Varsity darts competition previously was an official Varsity event, but has been run on an unofficial basis since a previous violent incident between spectators in 2017.

Last year, the event was held at the Octagon with crowds separated by metal barriers. This year, no such barriers were in place.

A spokesperson from Hallam Darts Club said: “There were already security measures in place to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.

“Unfortunately some individuals who attended the event just came with a clear intention in mind to start and take part in fights and this is something we seriously condemn.

“After the second game had finished we felt like the event ran smoothly with less of these problems occurring.

“Overall we would like to say our thanks to the Leadmill and their team of workers for helping keep the event on despite some early troubles. These individuals are old enough to know better!”

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