Drunks, drugs and violence - volunteers reveal what happens on Christmas nights out in Leeds

Ahead of Mad Friday, we spent a night with the North West Street Medics to see the realities of Leeds nightlife.

The North West Street Medics are a volunteer team who patrol the city centre streets on a Friday and Saturday night.

They give medical care to anyone who needs it to try and keep drunk people away from the city’s A&E departments.

This is what one volunteer, Sam Emery, 19, described:-

Drugs

Mr Emery said party drugs including cocaine and ecstasy are a big concern for them at the moment.

What used to be confined to young people and clubbers, had now trickled down into bars and pubs.

The group revealed that they find a lot of their patients slumped in bar toilets after taking drugs.

Ketamine is a big problem for the team. The drug is used in hospitals and vet surgeries to put people under anaesthetic.

Mr Emery says people don’t understand the strength of the drug or the massive effect it can have on them and they often have to deal with people who are in a 'k-hole' where their mind remains active but they can't move their body.

Ecstasy and cocaine are also causing problems, said Mr Emery.

He said: “Cocaine in particular makes people really hyper and aggressive but as time goes on they’ll have panic attacks.”

Fighting Violence

Street fights and random attacks are commonplace for the street medics and Mr Emery said big groups can often lead to problems.

On Saturday, the medics dealt with a racist attack, where a group of 15 attacked a lone man.

The man was on his way home and one person from the large group was making remarks.

He asked them to let him go home, but he did not relent.

The group then got involved and followed him. Eventually, there was a struggle and the man was punched several times.

There was quite a lot of blood which trailed from the Headrow and down Albion Place. The man had broken his nose but the team cleaned him up and he went home.

Mr Emery said it’s a bravado issue they see a lot in big groups.

He said: “Christmas should be about enjoying yourself and spending time with people that are around you not ruining that for other people and not stopping them spending time with their family and friends.”

Alcohol

“It's absolutely ridiculous the effect that alcohol has on people,” said Mr Emery.

On Saturday, intoxicated people walked out into and laid down on the busy main roads.

People slipped and fell over from too much alcohol and were then unable to move.

Many people had gotten so drunk that they were unable to look after themselves or get themselves home.

Mr Emery described one man who lived quite far away from Leeds who had wandered off from his friends.

He was so drunk he was unable to look after himself and had to be supervised by the volunteers.

Mr Emery said people need to stop drinking for the sake of it and start being responsible for their own care and getting themselves home safely.

Homeless

The team also have to look after the homeless people who live on the streets of the city centre.

Mr Emery said: “Jess and Gaz from Leeds Community Kitchen were doing their outreach on Saturday night and we met up with them as their shift ended.

"We got some warm clothes and blankets from them so we could carry that outreach into the night and give people a jumper and a blanket if they were too cold."