Sheffield gay club Queer Junction announces closure after rise in reports of violence

Famous Sheffield gay club Queer Junction (QJ), found in Sheffield’s The Moor, has announced its doors will close for good after a continued spike in reports of violence and sex attacks.

Venues in the city’s “Gay Quarter” have been highlighted for some time due to the reports, spikes in which come on Saturdays and Sundays.

Alongside Hereford Street’s Dempseys, QJ has one of the the highest number of crimes among pubs and clubs in Sheffield, Sheffield Live reports.

Their team had been working with South Yorkshire Police for some time in hopes of addressing the issue, including a trial period of reduced opening hours.

However, it has now been confirmed that Queer Junction will permanently close, with “back office politics” being citing as one of the contributing factors.

In an open letter to South Yorkshire Police, a spokesperson for the venue said: “We provide this open letter to inform you of the sad news that Queer Junction ‘QJ’, a bar business, has now closed its doors for good.

“We would like to thank all of our customers who have visited and supported us. We thank our staff who have had to deal with the ongoing stress and uncertainty. I would also like to acknowledge the SYP officers who work the beat (particularly those who do the night shifts who we see), the front line officers who do work tirelessly on the streets tackling crime, the vast majority of you are amazing and I know many of you have found confusion in what has been going on these past few weeks.”

Previous statements from the police have outlined a “data-led exercise” that was used to identify the licensed premises in Sheffield that account for the highest volume of crime reports. This data showed that both Queer Junction and Dempseys are each “associated with the highest volume of crime reports in Sheffield”.

In reference to this data, a police spokesperson said: “Analysis shows that at both venues, a high volume of these reported incidents involve violence and have included sexual offences and incidents involving weapons. Violent crime incidents at both premises increase significantly after 3am on Saturday morning and Sunday morning (when both premises are open to 6am). There are significantly fewer incidents reported on the days when the premises close earlier.

“We have been working with both venues for a number of years to help drive crime down but reports continue to increase. In the last 12 months, we have engaged both venues on numerous occasions, and to help reduce crime in the area, we have included the venues in our dedicated night time economy patrol plans on an ongoing basis. We have also sited a mobile police camera in the area and are working closely with Sheffield City Council to introduce permanent CCTV at the end of the year.”

Featured image via Google Maps.

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