The culture of violence blighting town centre gardens
HUDDERSFIELD town centre business owners are concerned that a long-standing problem with drinking and anti-social behaviour in St Peter’s Gardens has escalated into menacing mayhem, misery and violence.
They say people who have, for years, used the gardens – often referred to as Pigeon Park – as a place to congregate and drink alcohol, have now been joined by a younger, more violent group of troublemakers.
As a result, fights are now an almost daily occurrence, on top of existing antisocial behaviour such as shouting, swearing, drinking and urinating in public.
Business owners say customers are put off from visiting what could be one of the most picturesque spots in the town centre and staff are afraid to walk to their cars after work.
Mark Riley, of Mark Riley Hairdressers, has considered packing up after 35 years on Byram Street and moving his town centre operation to his salon in Waterloo. He recently returned to work after a violent incident in the park spilled into his doorway and he injured his hand defending his business.
“A fight broke out in the park between two young guys,” recalled Mark. “They’re mates, always in the same group drinking in the park. One of them must have said something wrong because they all turned on him. Around six of them. They were like a pack of wolves.
“The lad ran across Byram Street and tried to come in the shop and the gang chased him. One of them was trying to hit him with a belt and buckle.”
He added: “The older ones in the park have been there for years and aren’t that bad. They normally just drink and don’t cause too much trouble. It’s this new generation - the younger ones - who are a bit more violent and are causing problems. There is a core group of around six to 12 every day.
“They’re fighting, swearing, shouting and dealing drugs.”
Steve Smith, from Stephen Pressley Hair Design, just across Church Street from Mark’s place, agreed that violent incidents have become commonplace since the new faces entered the park.
He said: “If it’s a sunny day they’ll be congregating and fighting. The young girls will come with a pram and a can in one hand. “They’ll see someone they know and start shouting and screaming and then the boys will get involved and it turns violent.
“You don’t know what they’re carrying and some of them have pitbulls. You don’t say a word to them, it’s scary. If we see them coming near us, we lock the door. The girls know to do that.”
Steve added: “The park is a lovely spot as well. There’s offices all around and there should be people having a sandwich on a bench but you just wouldn’t.”
The day after Mark injured his hand defending his salon, a 20-year-old man was stabbed in the neck by a teenage suspect in the St Peter’s Church grounds.
Steve said: “I’m dreading winter because you’re scared to cash up.
They’re fighting, swearing, shouting and
dealing drugs
The salon is like a goldfish bowl when it’s dark outside.
“We have to walk to our cars when we can’t see out and it’s scary. We’ve stopped doing latenight hours for that reason.”
Lee Alderman, owner of Zephyr bar and kitchen, said that when he is sweeping up around the tables on Byram Street on an evening, he is sometimes confronted by a car with blacked-out windows and young men selling laughing gas balloons on the steps of St Peter’s Church.
Lee stressed that neither he, nor his staff, have ever felt unsafe in their place of work but said action is needed to change the atmosphere of the area so that criminal behaviour is less likely to occur.
Part of Kirklees Council’s £250m Huddersfield Blueprint to improve Huddersfield town centre builds on the cluster of independent businesses on Byram Street to turn the St Peter’s area into a creative centre.
But Lee does not think it requires millions of pounds to see a huge improvement. “Little things like lighting to having small outside events,” he suggested. “We could change the atmosphere.”
West Yorkshire Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) have made St Peter’s Gardens “the centre of all operations for day time anti-social behaviour in Huddersfield town centre.”
Insp Graham Dyson said: “My officers and staff are aware and deal with persistent individuals causing anti-social behaviour and we work closely with partners to deal with these issues, he said yesterday.
“In recent weeks, we have been conducting intensive partnership work with Kirklees Council, Kirklees Housing, the Youth Intervention Team and Huddersfield Mission. “Just yesterday, NPT officers and officers from British Transport Police were in the area and were deployed to an ongoing incident.”
Insp Dyson stressed that the key to tackling the problems in St Peter’s Gardens is the quick reporting of crimes by business owners and members of the public. He said: “The more intelligence and information we receive, enables us to react positively to any issues.”
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