Axes, mallets and knives recovered from Leeds city centre in weekend police operation

Operation 'Nightsafe' was led by Safer Leeds and other agencies from Friday, June 28 and Sunday, June 30.

It was aimed at boosting safety in the city centre at night and tackled issues such as anti-social behaviour, drugs and violence and theft and robbery.

During the two-night operation, a weapon sweep recovered an axe.

A mallet was also found.

A 5-inch knife was recovered by British Transport Police at Leeds Railway station.

14 people were arrested for offences including assault, drugs and going equipped to steal.

Drugs were also recovered and seized by police.

37 cars were checked and one stolen car was recovered from the north east area of the city.

Taxis were also checked and a number of offences were found and dealt with.

During the operation, a man suspected of sexually assaulting numerous women in the city centre was caught.

He appeared in court on Wednesday, July 3 and charged with five counts of sexual touching and two counts of attempted sexual touching.

-> Pregnant woman's car attacked with hammer in road rage incident in HarehillsOther multi-agency work was carried out in the city centre.

Police worked with staff at Leeds General Infirmary to target crime in hotspot areas.

Youth workers did safeguarding work which resulted in 12 follow-up referrals.

A stall in the Trinity Centre was set up to raise awareness about child sexual exploitation.

Safer Transport officers worked alongside First Bus to board 29 buses to reassure passengers and check for offences.

A road safety awareness stall was set up in Briggate staffed by council and police.

Chief Inspector Richard Padwell, who led the operation, said: “The overall results for Nightsafe were very positive and will have made a significant impact on public safety in the city centre over the weekend.

“Reassuringly we saw an extremely low number of serious offences over the 48-hour period despite very large volumes of people being out in the city centre due to the hot weather and a variety of events that increased footfall.

“Although our main aim was to reduce crime and anti-social and help to make people be safer and feel safer in the city centre, we were keen to build stronger links and a more joined-up approach across our partner agencies.

“The range of positive feedback we have had from partner agencies and the public shows we have made significant headway in that regard and we will continue to build on that to make sure the city centre is as safe and free from crime and anti-social behaviour as it can possibly be.”

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