Gay club in Sheffield closes and another slashes hours amid police concerns over 'highest' crime reports

Queer Junction, at the bottom of The Moor, announced on Tuesday that it had been forced to close its doors due to what it described as ‘continued police pressure and action’. It said it was ‘working to see if we can have them reopened’ but warned customers that ‘regretfully this may be the end’.

In a statement on Facebook, the venue, which opened in 2018, added: “It is regretful that this is beyond our control and was only highlighted to us last week (on) Friday. As we understand it, the police are looking to shut down bar/club hours beyond 3am across the city, with the gay quarter being the first to go!”

Its neighbour Dempseys, on Hereford Street, has agreed to shut earlier at 4am ‘until further notice’ in response to what it also described as ‘police pressure’. “This is totally out of our control and the only option we have to ensure the continued survival of Dempseys after 22 years of operation,” it said. Police said both clubs had been open until 6am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

South Yorkshire Police said that analysis of licensed premises in Sheffield, showed that, individually, Dempseys and Queer Junction were the ‘licensed premises associated with the highest volume of crime reports in Sheffield’. The force said that at both clubs a high volume of those reported incidents ‘involve violence and have included sexual offences and incidents involving weapons’.

The force said that violence at both premises increased significantly after 3am during the weekend at both venues and it had asked them to close at 3am for six-week trial period ‘as part of our wider commitment to tackle most serious violence in the night time economy, and not for any other reason’. But since this initial request was made, it said a ‘serious incident’ occurred at Queer Junction in the early hours of Sunday, November 20, which led the force to apply to Sheffield Council’s licensing committee for an urgent review of the club’s premises licence.

South Yorkshire Police said the council’s licensing committee decided on Tuesday, November 22 to suspend Queer Junction’s licence until December 12, when a further hearing will take place to decide whether permanent changes are needed. The force said it was agreed with Dempseys on Tuesday that it would trial closing at 4am on a temporary basis ‘whilst further discussions are held’.

The force added in a statement: “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.”

In February, The Star reported how Dempseys’ owners had written a scathing letter to South Yorkshire Police, saying it had ‘let the LGBTQ+ community down and have allowed the criminal fraternity to prosper’. It said it had become ‘commonplace’ for staff and customers to suffer homophobic abuse and threats of violence, yet ‘our appeals for help go unheeded’ and there was no support for its door supervisors. The force said at the time that it was ‘concerned’ about issues raised in the letter and would contact the owners to work through them.

Earlier this year, police appealed for information after a 21-year-old was punched to the ground before being further attacked in what was described as a serious assault outside Queer Junction in the early hours of January 23. In March, a man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being wounded outside Queer Junction. And in May, two men sustained facial injuries after they were chased out of Queer Junction and assaulted outside, according to a police appeal. In June this year, police said a 37-year-old man had been punched in the face outside Dempseys, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement.

The Star has contacted both Queer Junction and Dempseys.